Earnings Preview: Best Buy Co. Inc.

CHICAGO—Best Buy Co. Inc. reports earnings for the second quarter on Tuesday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: The nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy Co. Inc. announced a deal in the second quarter to become the first U.S. chain to sell Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone, outside of Apple and AT&T Inc.'s own stores.

Meanwhile, the Richfield, Minn.-based company said it was installing a dozen vending kiosks inside eight major airports across the country as part of a new pilot program called "Best Buy Express." The machines will stock cell phone and computer accessories, along with digital cameras, portable data storage devices, headphones, travel adapters, electronic chargers and other gadgets.

And Best Buy also jumped headfirst into the $8 billion U.S. musical instrument market, as it began opening as many as 85 music centers inside its stores. The massive new initiative sets aside up to 2,500 square feet of store space for an array of 1,000 different products from musical instruments and gear from well-known brand names such as Fender, Gibson, Drum Workshop and Roland.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predict a profit of 57 cents per share on revenue of $9.73 billion for the quarter.

ANALYST TAKE: Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. analyst David Schick told investors he expects Wall Street to focus on how well Best Buy fared during the back-to-school shopping season, when the firm's survey suggests overall sales slid as much as 6 percent. But results could get a boost from stronger sales in consumer electronics categories such as digital televisions, notebook PCs and video games, he said.

For the quarter, Schick said he expects same-store sales -- an important retail industry metric -- to climb about 2.3 percent. Same-store sales measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

WHAT'S AHEAD: Analysts will be listening to any clues about how the retailer expects to fare during the all important holiday shopping season.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: During the quarter, which began June 1, shares fell about 4 percent to end the period at $44.77. Shares are down about 15 percent for the year.