Best Buy beats quarterly estimates and hikes its outlook, but stock falls

Best Buy on Thursday reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook as the company's recovery showed more signs of taking hold.

The consumer electronics retailer said it saw comparable sales growth of 4.1% during the second quarter, compared with its previous outlook of just 1%, and saw a "higher-than-expected" adjusted operating income rate. Best Buy said it drove growth across all of its major categories, with a surge in computing contributing to that strength.

Best Buy also raised its full fiscal-year financial guidance due to what incoming CEO Jason Bonfig called in the release its "strong first half performance." The company now expects revenue of between $42.3 billion and $42.8 billion, compared with prior guidance of a range between $41.2 billion to $42.1 billion. It also anticipates comparable sales will climb 1.9% to 3%, compared with prior expectations of between a decline of 1% and increase of 1%.

Still, shares of the company sank about 7% in morning trading Thursday.

Bonfig told CNBC the company hasn't seen the customer change dramatically, and behavior has instead been "very consistent quarter over quarter." He added that tech innovation drove customer interest over the quarter, likely contributing to the higher comparable sales figure.

Best Buy said it now expects adjusted earnings per share for the year to be between $6.70 and $6.90, compared with prior guidance of between $6.30 and $6.60 per share.

The company also said its gross profit rate for the quarter included a $34 million benefit from tariff refunds.

Current CEO Corie Barry told CNBC the company was being more explicit than usual about the tariff refunds so the company is well-positioned to operate next year when comparing back to this quarter.