Best Buy holiday sales disappoint

A lackluster retail performance for Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) during the holiday season brings into question a planned turnaround for the electronics retailer, according to Bloomberg News.

On Jan. 17, Best Buy’s stock fell 29 percent, landing at $26.83 after revenue from stores that have been open at least 14 months unexpectedly slid 0.9 percent in the nine weeks ended Jan. 4.

CEO Hubert Joly, who took the company’s top post in September 2012, has implemented a strategy of slashing prices to be more competitive with other major retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). The discounts hit the bottom line in the fourth quarter by shrinking profit margins by as much as 1.85 percentage points in the fourth quarter, but Best Buy plans to continue the practice, according to Bloomberg News.

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