Best Buy key statistics and ratios
In fiscal 2026, Best Buy had return on equity of 37.0%, an operating margin of 3.3%, debt equal to 39.3% of equity and a current ratio of 1.11. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.
Financial ratios
| Fiscal year | 2010Feb 2009 | 2011Feb 2010 | 2012Jan 2012 | 2013Feb 2013 | 2014Feb 2014 | 2015Jan 2015 | 2016Jan 2016 | 2017Jan 2017 | 2018Feb 2018 | 2019Feb 2019 | 2020Feb 2020 | 2021Jan 2021 | 2022Jan 2022 | 2023Jan 2023 | 2024Feb 2024 | 2025Feb 2025 | 2026Jan 2026 | LTMAug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 24.4% | 24.5% | 24.0% | 23.6% | 23.1% | 22.4% | 23.3% | 24.0% | 23.4% | 23.2% | 23.0% | 22.4% | 22.5% | 21.4% | 22.1% | 22.6% | 22.5% | 22.7% |
| Operating margin | 4.2% | 4.8% | 4.6% | 0.2% | 2.8% | 3.6% | 3.5% | 4.7% | 4.4% | 4.4% | 4.6% | 5.1% | 5.9% | 3.9% | 3.6% | 3.0% | 3.3% | 4.1% |
| Net margin | 2.2% | 2.7% | −3.4% | −1.2% | 1.3% | 3.1% | 2.3% | 3.1% | 2.4% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 3.8% | 4.7% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 2.2% | 2.6% | 3.0% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 1.3% | 3.2% | 5.8% | 2.0% | 1.3% | 3.4% | 1.8% | 5.0% | 3.4% | 3.7% | 4.2% | 8.9% | 4.9% | 1.9% | 1.6% | 3.4% | 3.0% | 4.2% |
| Return on equity | — | — | −33.6% | −12.1% | 15.1% | 27.5% | 19.1% | 27.0% | 24.0% | 42.3% | 45.4% | 44.6% | 64.5% | 48.8% | 42.4% | 31.6% | 37.0% | 41.4% |
| Return on assets | — | — | — | −2.6% | 3.5% | 8.4% | 6.2% | 9.0% | 7.4% | 11.3% | 10.8% | 10.4% | 13.4% | 8.5% | 8.1% | 6.2% | 7.3% | 8.3% |
| Asset turnover | — | — | — | 2.28 | 2.64 | 2.76 | 2.75 | 2.88 | 3.13 | 3.30 | 3.06 | 2.73 | 2.83 | 2.78 | 2.82 | 2.79 | 2.83 | 2.74 |
| Current ratio | — | — | — | 1.11 | 1.41 | 1.48 | 1.43 | 1.48 | 1.26 | 1.18 | 1.10 | 1.19 | 0.99 | 0.98 | 1.00 | 1.03 | 1.11 | 1.12 |
| Debt to equity | — | — | — | 73.4% | 42.7% | 32.3% | 39.6% | 29.0% | 37.5% | 36.4% | 36.5% | 27.6% | 40.7% | 42.1% | 38.2% | 41.1% | 39.3% | 36.7% |
| Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest) | 19.9x | 25.7x | 18.8x | 0.9x | 11.4x | 16.1x | 17.2x | 25.8x | 24.6x | 26.0x | 31.4x | 46.0x | 121.6x | 51.3x | 30.3x | 24.7x | 29.6x | 38.0x |
| Effective tax rate | 39.6% | 35.9% | 35.1% | — | 35.8% | 10.2% | 38.4% | 33.5% | 45.0% | 22.5% | 22.7% | 24.4% | 19.0% | 20.7% | 23.5% | 28.7% | 24.0% | 26.9% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 20.0% | 19.5% | 19.3% | 20.7% | 20.0% | 18.8% | 19.3% | 19.2% | 19.0% | 18.7% | 18.3% | 16.8% | 16.7% | 17.2% | 18.1% | 18.4% | 18.3% | 18.3% |
| Capital spending as % of revenue | 2.9% | 1.2% | 1.7% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| Free cash flow ÷ net income | 57.2% | 120.8% | — | — | 102.8% | 111.4% | 77.4% | 161.0% | 145.3% | 108.5% | 118.2% | 234.4% | 102.5% | 63.0% | 54.4% | 150.2% | 117.7% | 139.0% |
| Dividends ÷ net income | 22.2% | 17.8% | — | — | 43.8% | 20.4% | 55.6% | 41.1% | 40.9% | 33.9% | 34.2% | 31.6% | 28.0% | 55.6% | 64.5% | 87.1% | 74.9% | 63.1% |
| Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow | 38.9% | 14.7% | 66.8% | 46.2% | 42.6% | 18.3% | 216.0% | 60.8% | 166.1% | 126.0% | 84.0% | 20.9% | 166.6% | 201.7% | 169.0% | 93.9% | 85.4% | 53.6% |
| Quarter | 2025 Q3Nov 2024 | 2025 Q4Feb 2025 | 2026 Q1May 2025 | 2026 Q2Aug 2025 | 2026 Q3Nov 2025 | 2026 Q4Jan 2026 | 2027 Q1May 2026 | 2027 Q2Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 23.5% | 20.9% | 23.4% | 23.2% | 23.2% | 20.9% | 23.5% | 23.9% |
| Operating margin | 3.7% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 2.7% | 2.0% | 5.2% | 4.1% | 4.3% |
| Net margin | 2.9% | 0.8% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 1.4% | 3.9% | 3.1% | 3.2% |
| Free-cash-flow margin | −4.8% | 9.7% | −1.5% | 6.1% | −3.0% | 8.0% | 2.4% | 7.5% |
| Current ratio | 1.00 | 1.03 | 1.02 | 1.04 | 1.05 | 1.11 | 1.12 | 1.12 |
| Debt to equity | 37.5% | 41.1% | 42.1% | 43.2% | 43.9% | 39.3% | 37.6% | 36.4% |
| SG&A as % of revenue | 19.8% | 16.0% | 19.6% | 19.4% | 19.5% | 15.8% | 19.5% | 19.7% |
Financial health
- Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $10.0bn of assets due within a year against $8.9bn of liabilities due within a year.
- Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
- More cash than debt $2.3bn of cash against $1.2bn of debt.
- Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 36% of equity.
- Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 40% to 36% over five years.
- A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $2.5bn of operating cash flow against $1.2bn of debt.
- Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $1.7bn against $45m of interest.
Moat
Moderate moat
How hard Best Buy's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.
- Returns on capital 14 / 20
Cash operating profit has been a median 11.3% of total assets over 10 years.
- Pricing power 9 / 20
Gross margin has been a median 22.7%, moving by 0.6 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
- Durability 8 / 20
Operating margin has been a median 4.4%; its worst year was 2.5%.
- Cash conversion 12 / 20
Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 3.3% of revenue.
- Discipline 20 / 20
The diluted share count fell 18.4% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.3% of revenue.
AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (63 before it).
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