Best Buy cut its annual outlook on Thursday after the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain reported a profit decline and stagnating sales for its fiscal first quarter amid shoppers’ worries about the economy and tariffs.

The Richfield-based company said the outlook assumed that tariffs will remain at the current levels for the rest of the year, and “there is no material change in consumer behavior” in the trends it has seen in recent quarters.

Like other retailers, Best Buy has been wrestling with ever-changing tariff news.

During a media interview on Thursday, CEO Corie Barry said Best Buy has been taking a variety of steps to offset higher tariff costs like pushing its vendors to diversify their manufacturing. The company is increasing some prices to absorb tariff-related costs but called that a “last resort.” She declined to be specific because the situation was fluid.

Best Buy has very little control of sourcing, directly importing only about 2% to 3% of its cost of goods sold, she reiterated. Barry noted that product costs that are flowing to Best Buy are lower than the tariff rates.

Barry said that China remains the No. 1 source for its products, estimating that the percentage of product cost it represents is approximately 30% to 35%, down from the 55% number it shared with analysts in March. That’s because suppliers are expanding production outside of China, among other actions. The U.S. and Mexico account for roughly 25% of its cost.

The company reported net income of $202 million, or 95 cents per share, for the three-month period ended May 3. That compares with $246 million, or $1.13 per share, a year ago.

Adjusted earnings was $1.15 per share.

Sales fell slightly to $8.77 billion from $8.85 billion.

Analysts were expecting $1.09 per share on sales of $8.81 billion

Shares slipped 9% in regular trading on Thursday.

Best Buy said Thursday that it now expects annual earnings per share in the range of $6.15 to $6.30. That’s down from the company’s earlier per-share range of $6.20 to $6.60.

Analysts expect $6.13 per share, according to FactSet.

For the year, the company now expects sales between $41.1 billion and $41.9 billion, down from $41.4 billion to $42.2 billion.

Analysts expected $41.38 billion, according to FactSet.

— Associated Press

NYT to share content with Amazon AI

The New York Times Co. said Thursday it has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms.

The multiyear agreement “will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,” the news organization said in a statement.

This is the Times’ first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative AI technology.

In 2023, the Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles pu- blished by the Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.

Financial terms of the licensing deal with Amazon were not disclosed.

Second estimate sees GDP shrink 0.2% in 1Q

The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.2% annual pace from January through March, the first drop in three years, as President Donald Trump’s trade wars disrupted business, the government said Thursday in a slight upgrade of its initial estimate — the second of three. The final version arrives June 26.

First-quarter growth was brought down by a surge in imports as companies in the United States hurried to bring in foreign goods before the president imposed massive import taxes.

The January-March drop in gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — reversed a 2.4% gain in the fourth quarter of 2024. Imports grew at a 42.6% pace, fastest since third-quarter 2020, and shaved more than 5 percentage points off GDP growth. Consumer spending also slowed sharply.

— From news services