Best Buy, the leading American consumer electronics retailer, announced on Tuesday a downward revision of its targets for fiscal 2023/2024, sending its stock tumbling on Wall Street.

The Minneapolis-based group reduced its annual sales forecast, now expecting between $43.1 and $43.7 billion for the fiscal year ending at the end of January, compared with $43.8-44.5 billion previously forecast.

Like-for-like sales are expected to fall by 6% to 7.5% for the year, compared with a previous forecast of -4.5% to -6%.

CEO Corie Barry explains that consumer demand has become even more 'uneven and difficult to predict' in the recent economic environment.

Earnings per share (EPS) excluding exceptional items are expected to come in at between six and 6.30 dollars, rather than between six and 6.40 dollars as initially envisaged.

In the three months to the end of October, sales on a like-for-like basis fell by 6.9%, below the company's targets, for EPS excluding exceptional items of $1.21, compared with $1.22 a year earlier.

Following these announcements, Best Buy shares lost 2.8% on Tuesday morning, posting one of the biggest declines on the S&P 500 index in early trading.

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