Core Insights - Best Buy faces challenges in maintaining profitability amid a competitive landscape and shifting consumer preferences [1] - Analyst Robert F. Ohmes from BofA Securities has reiterated an Underperform rating on Best Buy shares with a price forecast of $63 [2] - The company is set to report second-quarter earnings on August 28, with expected EPS of $1.23 and enterprise comps at -0.3% [2] Financial Performance - The projected gross margin for the second quarter is 23.5%, unchanged from the previous year [3] - Selling Current Health is expected to alleviate margin pressure related to the slow adoption of hospital-at-home solutions [4] - Online sales are outpacing in-store purchases, which may negatively impact margins due to lower warranty attachment rates in online sales [4] Market Conditions - Appliance and consumer electronics sales are highly promotional, with average discounts of 13% in the second quarter [5] - The upcoming marketplace launch is expected to expand to approximately 500 vendors, which should contribute to incremental profit and be margin-accretive in FY26 [5] - Best Buy shares were down 2.16% at $72.50 at the time of publication [5]