Net loss for the first-quarter was -$81 million, or $0.24 per share compared to net earnings of $158 million, or $0.46 per share in the last quarter of last year. Analysts expected $0.25 per share and Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) missed by $0.01, or 4%.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) ended the first-quarter with $1.1 billion in total debt and $10 billion in total current assets. The debt fell by $536 million from $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter, and total current assets fell $310 million from $10.3 billion at the end of 2012. Its cash on hand fell to $908 million from $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter, a 34% drop in just three months.
Both RadioShack and Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) are trying to adjust things to fit in this new online shopping frenzy that is created by rivals like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). Both RadioShack and Best Buy have no room to compete with an online retailer who sales the same products, or do they?
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has the same products that almost every specialty retailer has, but it has new and used items, which makes the prices vary. With the new price matching programs floating around Amazon might feel pressure. Physical shopping abilities coupled with price matching gives Best Buy a chance that RadioShack does not have, because of its limited supply of products.
Fancy photos of the products are nice but the ability to touch and experience the product first-hand is better, in my opinion. But wait, taking the product home as soon as you pay for it, is definitely better than paying for a product and then waiting to receive it.
While Best Buy is closing locations to cut back, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is expanding. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) launched its marketplace in India, www.amazon.in, providing customers a convenient and trustworthy online shopping experience and Indian retailers of all sizes a robust and scalable platform to sell their products online with no listing fees and pay-as-you-go fulfillment services.
No matter what kind of investor you are, both Best Buy and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) have something to offer. Both of these specialty retailers are an excellent mix of high growth. RadioShack on the other hand has nothing else to offer investors.
Although this year has been a challenging one for RadioShack and American consumers, Best Buy and Amazon still manage good domestic sales growth. In spite of the omnipresent anxiety of a Chinese economic deceleration and the growing fiscal distress in Europe, Amazon is also expanding its global operations, which should only render a supplementary incentive looking ahead. Ergo, both Best Buy and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) are imperative buys on any stock price decline.
Gayron Wainwright has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com and RadioShack. Gayron is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
The article Who’s Screaming for Help? originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Gayron Wainwright.
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