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Best Buy Co. Inc. shares sank 8.6% in Wednesday premarket trading after the consumer electronics retailer reported fourth-quarter sales that missed expectations. Net income was $607.0 million, or $1.91 per share, up from $479.0 million, or $1.40 per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was $1.95, beating the $1.67 FactSet consensus. Sales totaled $13.48 billion, down from $13.62 billion last year, and below the $13.62 billion FactSet consensus. Domestic same-store sales fell 0.9%, compared with the FactSet consensus of a 0.4% increase. Best Buy Chief Executive Hubert Joly said “product availability constraints” and “weaker-than-expected demand” in gaming were largely responsible for the sales shortfall. Best Buy sees first-quarter revenue in the range of $8.2 billion and $8.3 billion, and domestic same-store sales in the range of a 1% decline and a 2% decline. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $8.47 billion, and a same-store sales increase of 0.6% Best Buy stock is up 33.6% for the past year, while the S&P 500 index is up 19.5% for the period.

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From:: Stock Market News

Office Depot Inc. reported Wednesday fourth-quarter earnings that rose to $80 million, or 15 cents a share, from $15 million, or 3 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 11 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 11 cents. Revenue slipped to $2.73 billion from $2.77 billion, but was above the FactSet consensus of $2.70 billion. North American retail sales fell to $1.37 billion from $1.41 billion, but beat expectations of $1.33 billion. North American retail same-store sales fell 4%, due primarily to lower store traffic. Looking ahead, the office supplies retailer expects 2017 sales to be lower than 2016. The FactSet consensus of $10.40 billion implies a 5.6% decline from 2016 sales of $11.02 billion. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 15% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has gained 7.9%.

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Francois Fillon, the center-right politician running to become France’s next president, said Wednesday he’s staying in the race even as he faces a summons over an investigation into payments to his wife. Fillon said during a press conference that he’ll be summoned to face charges on March 15 following a police investigation into his wife’s pay from public funds. The allegations are that his wife, Penelope, was paid roughly €500,000 without doing any work. Fillon insisted he hasn’t embezzled any money and that the allegations amount to “political assassination.” Fillon, a former prime minister, abruptly held a press conference after cancelling a visit to an agricultural fair. The euro fell to $1.0536 as Fillon spoke, but yields on French 10-year and 2-year bonds were little changed.

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Shares of Seaspan Corp. fell in the extended session Tuesday after the Hong Kong-based container ship company sharply cut its quarterly dividend. Seaspan shares dropped 13% to $6.86 after hours. The company cut its quarterly dividend to 12.5 cents a share from a previous 37.5 cents a share. “We believe this decision is in the long-term interests of our shareholders and will allow us to capitalize on industry weakness while maintaining a strong balance sheet,” said Seaspan CEO Gerry Wang in a statement. Seaspan reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 21 cents a share on revenue of $213.2 million, while analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated 17 cents a share on revenue of $213.4 million.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News