Post Tagged with: "Mobile"

Best Buy tops expectations in Q1, online revenue and mobile sales up

Best Buy tops expectations in Q1, online revenue and mobile sales up


Best Buy Q1 2012 Earnings

Best Buy on Tuesday reported results for the first quarter of 2012. The electronics retail giant posted better-than-expected earnings per share, despite declining store sales. Revenue came in at $ 11.6 billion, ahead of analysts’ consensus of $ 11.52 billion, and non-GAAP earnings came in at $ 0.72 per share, up 11% from the same quarter in 2011 and beating the Street’s estimates of $ 0.59 per share. Domestic online revenue rose by 20%, and domestic mobile-phone sales increased by 13%. “Best Buy is in a turnaround, and the strategic priorities we laid out at the beginning of the year are just the first phase of the changes to come,” said Mike Mikan, CEO (interim) of Best Buy. “We know we have to better adapt to the new realities of the marketplace, and we are creating a long-term plan designed to make Best Buy more relevant with customers and position the company for sustained, profitable returns in the years ahead. First quarter results were in-line with our expectations, and we are reaffirming our previously provided annual guidance for fiscal 2013.” Best Buy’s press release follows below.

Best Buy Reports Fiscal First Quarter Results

GAAP diluted EPS of $ 0.47; adjusted (non-GAAP) diluted EPS up 11 percent to $ 0.72
Company building a new turnaround plan
Full year guidance outlook unchanged

FISCAL FIRST QUARTER PERFORMANCE SUMMARY(1)
(U.S. dollars and square footage in millions, except per share and per square foot amounts)
Three Months Ended
May 5, 2012 April 30, 2011 Change
Revenue $ 11,610 $ 11,369 2%
Comparable store sales % change(2) (5.3%) (3.0%) N/A
Gross profit as % of revenue 25.0% 25.7% (70bps)
SG&A as % of revenue 21.7% 21.6% 10bps
Restructuring charges $ 127 $ 4 N/A
Operating income $ 262 $ 460 (43%)
Operating income as a % of revenue 2.3% 4.0% (170bps)
Diluted EPS from continuing operations $ 0.47 $ 0.64 (27%)
Adjusted (non-GAAP) Results(3)
Operating income $ 389 $ 464 (16%)
Operating income as a % of revenue 3.4% 4.1% (70bps)
Diluted EPS from continuing operations $ 0.72 $ 0.65 11%
Key Metrics(4)
Total U.S. big box retail square feet 42.4 42.5 0%
Revenue per square foot (Domestic segment) $ 854 $ 854 0%
Adjusted operating income per square foot (Domestic segment) $ 42 $ 48 (13%)
Adjusted return on invested capital(5) 11.2% 11.2% 0bps

Fiscal First Quarter 2013 Highlights

  • Domestic segment online revenue growth of 20 percent
  • Domestic segment mobile phones comparable store sales growth of 13 percent
  • Domestic segment connections growth of 11 percent
  • Domestic segment Services revenue increased approximately 11 percent, including the impact of the mindSHIFT acquisition
  • Domestic segment comparable store sales growth in tablets, mobile phones, eReaders and appliances more than offset by declines in notebooks, gaming, digital imaging and televisions
  • Closed 41 (effective May 12, 2012) of the 50 U.S. big box store closures planned for fiscal 2013
  • As expected, the International segment operating loss was driven primarily by lower revenue in Europe and China and increased competitive conditions in Europe

MINNEAPOLIS, May 22, 2012 — Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) today reported GAAP net earnings from continuing operations of $ 161 million, or $ 0.47 per diluted share, for the three months ended May 5, 2012 compared to net earnings from continuing operations of $ 255 million, or $ 0.64 per diluted share for the prior-year period. Excluding previously announced restructuring charges, adjusted (non-GAAP) net earnings from continuing operations for the first quarter was $ 246 million, or $ 0.72 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net earnings from continuing operations of $ 258 million, or $ 0.65 per diluted share, for the prior-year period.

“Best Buy is in a turnaround, and the strategic priorities we laid out at the beginning of the year are just the first phase of the changes to come,” said Mike Mikan, CEO (interim) of Best Buy. “We know we have to better adapt to the new realities of the marketplace, and we are creating a long-term plan designed to make Best Buy more relevant with customers and position the company for sustained, profitable returns in the years ahead. First quarter results were in-line with our expectations, and we are reaffirming our previously provided annual guidance for fiscal 2013.”

Revenue

Three Months ended May 5, 2012 Prior-Year Period
($ millions) Revenue Change YOY Comp. Store Sales Comp. Store Sales
Domestic $ 8,822 5.1% (3.7%) (3.8%)
International 2,788 (6.3%) (10.5%) (0.2%)
Total $ 11,610 2.1% (5.3%) (3.0%)

Total company revenue was $ 11.6 billion during the fiscal first quarter, an increase of 2.1 percent compared to the prior-year period, and included a comparable store sales decline of 5.3 percent. As a result of the company’s fiscal year change, the first quarter of fiscal 2013 included February 2012, which included a fifth (“extra”) week. Excluding the extra week, total company revenue declined 4.3 percent compared to the prior-year period. Areas of comparable store sales growth in the Domestic segment included tablets and mobile phones within the Computing & Mobile Phones revenue category, eReaders within the Consumer Electronics revenue category and Appliances. These increases were more than offset by comparable store sales declines primarily in notebooks within the Computing and Mobile Phones revenue category, gaming within the Entertainment revenue category, and digital imaging and televisions within the Consumer Electronics revenue category. The Domestic segment online channel revenue grew 20 percent compared to the prior-year period.

International segment comparable store sales declined 10.5 percent. As the company previously discussed, first quarter sales were expected to be lower driven by declines in the Five Star business stemming from the expiration of government sponsored programs and a slowdown in the Chinese economy. The impact of the change in these programs was similarly felt by other retailers in China. Additionally, softness in notebooks, home theater and gaming resulted in comparable store declines in Canada, and the difficult macro environment and changes in network subsidies for the pre-pay U.K. phone market led to lower mobile phone sales in our Europe business.

Gross Profit

Three Months ended May 5, 2012
($ millions) Gross Profit Change YOY % of Revenue
Domestic $ 2,233 4% 25.3%
International 674 (13%) 24.2%
Total $ 2,907 (0%) 25.0%

Domestic segment gross profit dollars increased 4 percent, including the extra week, and included a rate decline of 30 basis points compared to the prior-year period. The primary factors influencing this Domestic segment rate decline were lower computer repair revenue and the continuing shift from one-time transactions to ongoing “Tech Support” memberships, partially offset by favorability from a higher sales mix of mobile phones.

International segment gross profit dollars declined 13 percent and included a 180 basis point rate decline. This rate decline was due primarily to a more competitive pricing environment and the increased mix of lower margin smartphones in our Europe business.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (“SG&A”)

Three Months ended May 5, 2012
($ millions) SG&A Change YOY % of Revenue
Domestic $ 1,811 2% 20.5%
International 707 4% 25.4%
Total $ 2,518 2% 21.7%

Total company SG&A spending increased 2 percent compared to the prior-year period. Excluding the effect of the extra week, total company SG&A spending experienced a slight decline.

Year-over-year SG&A comparisons for both Domestic and International segments were impacted by the absence of the Best Buy Mobile profit share payment as a result of the purchase of Carphone Warehouse plc’s (“CPW”) share of the Best Buy Mobile profit share agreement in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. These intercompany profit share payments previously increased Domestic segment SG&A expense while lowering International segment SG&A and had no impact on the company’s consolidated operating income.

Operating Income

Three Months ended May 5, 2012
($ millions) Operating Income Change YOY % of Revenue
Domestic $ 295 (19%) 3.3%
International (33) n/a (1.2%)
Total $ 262 (43%) 2.3%
Adjusted operating income – Domestic $ 422 14% 4.8%
Adjusted operating income – International (33) n/a (1.2%)
Adjusted operating income(2) $ 389 (16%) 3.4%

Operating income of $ 262 million included $ 127 million in restructuring charges primarily related to employee severance and fixed asset impairments, as a result of actions taken during the quarter to reduce headcount and close stores. Excluding these charges, adjusted operating income for the quarter declined 16 percent to $ 389 million driven by declines in the International segment.

Please see the table titled “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” attached to this release for more detail.

Share Repurchases and Dividends
The company repurchased $ 115 million, or 4.6 million shares, of its common stock at an average price of $ 25.07 per share during February 2012, the first month of the fiscal first quarter. Consistent with previous guidance, the company continues to expect repurchases of approximately $ 750 million to $ 1.0 billion in fiscal 2013. On May 10, 2012, the company paid a quarterly dividend of $ 0.16 per common share outstanding, or $ 55 million in the aggregate.

Fiscal 2013 Annual Guidance Unchanged
The company is maintaining its fiscal 2013 outlook of adjusted (non-GAAP) diluted EPS in the range of $ 3.50 to $ 3.80, including the impact of expected share repurchases and excluding fiscal 2013 restructuring costs.

The company’s estimates for pre-tax restructuring charges in fiscal 2013 related to its strategic imperatives outlined on March, 29, 2012 is a range of $ 300 to $ 350 million, including store closures, severance, asset impairments and other costs. Including these charges, the GAAP diluted EPS annual guidance is expected in the range of $ 2.85 to $ 3.25. Please see “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Guidance” attached to this release for more detail.

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May 22, 2012 0 comments Read More
80% of mobile banking apps may have security flaws

80% of mobile banking apps may have security flaws


Mobile Banking Security Flaws

Neal O’Farrell, executive director of the nonprofit Identity Theft Council, spoke about the seriousness of mobile security as part of San Francisco Small Business Week, Cult Of Mac reported. “There were more data breaches than U.S. residents last year and more cases of identity theft than just about all other crimes combined,” O’Farrell said, adding that unless users are encrypting their devices, they are essentially asking for trouble. “You’ve got to wake up [and] protect yourself, even if you use a Mac,” he said, citing the massive Flashback virus that affected more than 600,000 Mac computers. O’Farrell went on to warn that, “Eight out of ten mobile banking apps have security flaws, but Apple and the banks don’t want you to know that.” He didn’t give specifics, but did state, “I’ll wait another 20 years to stick my toe in that pond.” O’Ferrel is a security consultant who has advised organizations including Toyota, Merrill Lynch, Cost Plus World Market and the Bulgarian Government.

Read

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May 22, 2012 0 comments Read More
Facebook App Center to offer ‘Send to Mobile’ installs for iOS and Android

Facebook App Center to offer ‘Send to Mobile’ installs for iOS and Android

Facebook send to mobile

As Facebook counts down the days to the opening of its new App Center, it is spotlighting another piece of functionality that it intends to include: easy installs. The App Center, if you don’t recall, will be a centralized place where Facebook will allow users to browse (and install) apps that utilize Facebook connect – including HTML5, iOS, and Android apps. Today the company announced that iOS and Android users can expect a streamlined app install and launch experience on App Center.

When browsing from a phone, you’ll see options to directly launch an app if you have it installed, or a link to install it if you don’t. The latter will open up the App Store on iOS or Google Play on Android. A slightly more interesting variation comes…

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May 22, 2012 0 comments Read More
The Verge Mobile Podcast, live at 4:30PM ET / 9:30PM BST!

The Verge Mobile Podcast, live at 4:30PM ET / 9:30PM BST!

Mobile Podcast Throwback

In the mobile industry, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The manufacturers who make phones and the consumers who buy them.

These are their stories.

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May 22, 2012 0 comments Read More
Viewdini: hands-on with Verizon’s new mobile video aggregation app

Viewdini: hands-on with Verizon’s new mobile video aggregation app

Gallery Photo: Viewdini hands-on photos

Verizon’s showing off Viewdini, its new video aggregation app, down on the floor of the 2012 Cable Show, and the company just gave us few minutes to put it through its paces. The key thing to note about the app is that it’s purely meant for helping users find video content across a number of services — there’s no player component to Viewdini. When you search for a movie or TV show, Viewdini kicks back a list of every partner source with your desired content. For example, if your search is available on Netflix and Xfinity, for example, you can choose your desired source, the partner app opens (e.g. the standard Netflix app), and your movie begins. If you’re not currently subscribed to the services presented, Viewdini will bring you…

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May 22, 2012 0 comments Read More
Less than 2% ‘Like’ mobile carriers despite millions spent on Facebook campaigns

Less than 2% ‘Like’ mobile carriers despite millions spent on Facebook campaigns


Facebook Campaigns Mobile Carriers

Less than 2% of mobile carriers’ subscribers “Like” them on Facebook despite the millions of dollars they collectively spend in an effort to promote their services on the world’s most popular social network. Facebook made its initial public offering on Friday and while the company’s stock price dipped below the IPO price of $ 38 on Monday and continued to slide on Tuesday, Facebook’s offering was the biggest Internet IPO of all time by nearly 10 times. There is no denying that Facebook and the 900 million people who use the social network are of tremendous value to businesses looking to promote their services, but mobile carriers have seemingly not found success thus far as they attempt to bolster Facebook fan counts.

According to a recent report from market research firm Strand Consult, mobile carriers are wasting millions trying to promote their services on Facebook. Following discussions with a number of carriers around the world as well as an extensive study, the firm found that an average of less than 2% of carriers’ customers are fans of them on Facebook despite substantial resource investments.

Internationally, Strand found that no network operator covered in its study was liked by more than 4% of its subscriber base. In the United States, the firm looked at Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint, and found that none of the nation’s top-3 carriers even broke the 3% mark.

“We were especially surprised when we looked at the American operators, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, operators that spend millions of dollars in marketing and have internal and external teams working on Facebook,” Strand analysts wrote in a research note discussing the study. “For all their work, they can’t budge much above 2%. Such small results hardly seem worth the effort.”

Strand Consult clarified that it does not believe wireless service providers should forgo a Facebook presence, but it says the benefits of companies’ efforts on Facebook are not yet clear. Companies focus on likes because results are easily measured, but true return may lie elsewhere.

“Indeed, we have seen solid evidence from around the world that social media—operators’ own support websites, Facebook, Twitter, and other user-driven tools, can help reduce support costs,” Strand wrote. “For those tasks, we recommend social media. But we have yet to see Facebook as a solid driver for leads and sales.”

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Voyager Mobile launches with $19 and $39 per month unlimited plans after ‘malicious’ attack

Voyager Mobile launches with $19 and $39 per month unlimited plans after ‘malicious’ attack

Voyager Mobile logo 640

It may have been delayed by a few days, but MVNO Voyager Mobile has opened its doors for business today after its original launch plans were thwarted by a “malicious network attack” on May 15th. As a refresher, the service provider repackages and sells Sprint’s CDMA (3G) and WiMAX network as part of a $ 39 per month, contract-free unlimited talk, text, and data plan. If you have no need for data, the $ 19 per month unlimited plan should suit your needs. Voyager is shaking things up a bit with a rewards program that earns you points based on how many talking minutes you use per month. The carrier’s website says that the rewards feature is coming soon, as well as plans for MiFis and tablets that will also be unlimited. For now, there’s a…

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May 20, 2012 0 comments Read More
Motorola Triumph Prepaid Android Phone (Virgin Mobile)

Motorola Triumph Prepaid Android Phone (Virgin Mobile)

Motorola Triumph Prepaid Android Phone (Virgin Mobile)

  • 3G-enabled, Android-powered smartphone with 4.1-inch multi-touch display and access to wide range of Google mobile services
  • No monthly contracts with Virgin Mobile's Beyond Talk unlimited data, text and voice plan (or by-the-minute PayLo plans)
  • 1 GHz processor; 5-MP camera/camcorder; Wi-Fi networking; Bluetooth stereo music; access to personal and corporate e-mail; GPS navigation and location services
  • Up to 4 hours of talk time, up to 72 hours (3 days) of standby time
  • What's in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, 2 GB microSD card; quick start guide
Motorola TRIUMPH allows users to rev up their smartphone experience with a superfast 1GHz processor, 4.1-inch touchscreen, 5MP camera and, front-facing VGA camera for video chat, 720p HD camcorder with HDMI output, to allow for playback on HDTVs (requires HDMI cable sold separately). A sleek and stylish smartphone packed with all the high-end performance features you expect, the 3G-enabled, Android-powered Motorola TRIUMPH for the prepaid Virgin Mobile network offers excellent on-the-go multimed

List Price: $ 299.99 Price: $ 229.00

May 20, 2012 3 comments Read More
Samsung Galaxy Prevail Android Smartphone (Boost Mobile)

Samsung Galaxy Prevail Android Smartphone (Boost Mobile)

Samsung Galaxy Prevail Android Smartphone (Boost Mobile)

  • Wireless Web
  • GPS enabled
  • Stereo Bluetooth capable
  • 2 MP camera with video
  • 3.2" touchscreen
Boost Mobile BMSAMM820 Combining the power of the Android OS and Boost Mobile's no-contract cellular service, the Samsung Galaxy Prevail smartphone is designed to provide an uncompromised Android experience while maintaining the great value of Boost's $55 Android Monthly Unlimited plan with no hidden fees and no contracts required. And you'll save money the longer you stick with Boost Mobile, with your monthly payments lowered by $5 for every six on-time payments. See larger image. The Prev

List Price: $ 129.99 Price: $ 129.99

May 20, 2012 3 comments Read More
GameStop offers, then removes AT&T mobile data plans

GameStop offers, then removes AT&T mobile data plans


ImageIt seems that GameStop plans on offering AT&T data plans for mobile devices under a service called GameStop Mobile, according to information posted on their website. The information has since been pulled, but not before our friends at Engadget reported on it.

So, as long as GameStop Mobile continues to not be a reality, we will continue reporting the information we’ve yet to learn about the service. Hypothetically-speaking, GameStop Mobile would require AT&T-compatible or unlocked devices. The service would probably include pay-as-you-go five dollar plans and $ 55 monthly plans, which would include unlimited voice and text and 500MB of data, or 1GB of data for data-only device users.

The someday-news of GameStop Mobile would make more sense out of the company’s recent addition of Android devices to their trade-in lists.

JoystiqGameStop offers, then removes AT&T mobile data plans originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 19 May 2012 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq

May 19, 2012 0 comments Read More