undamentalytics Newsletter

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

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Best Buy: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year2010Feb 20092011Feb 20102012Jan 20122013Feb 20132014Feb 20142015Jan 20152016Jan 20162017Jan 20172018Feb 20182019Feb 20192020Feb 20202021Jan 20212022Jan 20222023Jan 20232024Feb 20242025Feb 20252026Jan 2026LTMAug 2026
Gross margin24.4%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 margin4.2%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 margin2.2%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 margin1.3%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———2.282.642.762.752.883.133.303.062.732.832.782.822.792.832.74
Current ratio———1.111.411.481.431.481.261.181.101.190.990.981.001.031.111.12
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)19.9x25.7x18.8x0.9x11.4x16.1x17.2x25.8x24.6x26.0x31.4x46.0x121.6x51.3x30.3x24.7x29.6x38.0x
Effective tax rate39.6%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 revenue20.0%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 revenue2.9%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 income57.2%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 income22.2%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 flow38.9%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%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

6 of 6 checks passed · August 1, 2026
What it owns · $16.1bn
Short-term assets $10.0bnLonger-term assets $6.1bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $12.1bn
Short-term liabilities $8.9bnShareholders' equity $3.2bn
  • 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.

From Best Buy's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

58 /100

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).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: BBY vs MGABBY vs NKEBBY vs SBUX

More: Consumer Discretionary sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from Best Buy's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Best Buy.