By Sarah Nassauer
Best Buy Co. posted lackluster sales growth heading into the holiday season, one of the few large chains unable to capitalize on high consumer demand for electronics and other goods.
The electronics retailer said comparable sales -- those from stores and digital channels operating for at least 12 months -- rose 2% in the quarter ended Oct. 30 from a year earlier, when they jumped 22%.
E-commerce sales fell 11% from a year earlier, when they surged 174% as temporary store closures during the pandemic shifted many customers to shop online. Online sales accounted for about a third of Best's Buy's $11 billion in domestic revenue in the latest quarter.
"While customers are returning to stores, digital sales were still more than double pre-pandemic levels, and phone, chat and in-home sales continued to grow," Best Buy Chief Executive Corie Barry said Tuesday. The company raised its forecast for comparable sales for the full fiscal year but warned that the metric could decline in the fiscal fourth quarter.
Shares of Best Buy fell about 10% in premarket trading. The share price had surged more than 30% since the end of September.
Another big box retailer, Dick's Sporting Goods Inc., on Tuesday reported higher sales for the same quarter, though it also logged slower online growth as more people returned to stores.
Dick's said comparable sales rose 12.2% in the quarter ended Oct. 30 compared with the same quarter last year, when they increased 23%. At Dick's, online sales were about flat with the year-earlier quarter, when they nearly doubled.
E-commerce sales accounted for 19% of the company's $2.75 billion in quarterly revenue this year, compared with 21% of sales during the third quarter of 2020, the company said.
"Our fourth quarter is off to a strong start," Dick's Chief Executive Lauren Hobart said Tuesday. Dick's raised its earning per share estimates for the full year to $12.88 to $13.06, up from a previous range of $11.00 to $11.45.
Dick's shares rose slightly in pre-marketing trading Tuesday.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com