Best Buy's Q3 Earnings Far Exceed Expectations

Best Buy, the world's largest multi-channel electronics retailer, reported quarterly earnings Thursday that soundly beat analysts' expectations. The company reported third-quarter earnings of $107 million or 30 cents a share, compared with $54 million or 16 cents a share in the same period last year.

Adjusted for one-time items, the company reported earnings of 32 cents a share, up from 18 cents a share. Revenue rose to $9.38 billion from $9.36 billion in the year-earlier period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected Best Buy to report earnings of 25 cents a share on $9.11 billion in revenue. Shares of the company rose more than 7 percent in pre-market trading.

Though sales were expected to fall 2 percent as online dealers like Amazon seek to win customers from Best Buy, the company's same-store sales in fact rose 2.2 percent in the third quarter from last year. Sales of the iPhone 6 helped drive traffic to the store. Ahead of the holiday shopping frenzy, Best Buy has promised to match prices from competitors like Amazon and Walmart.

Best Buy shares were up about 8 percent, around $38.40, on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning.