People shopping in a Best Buy store. Richard Schulze, Best Buy’s founder, bought $20 million in shares of the electronics retailer.
Valentin M Armianu/Dreamstime.com
Best Buy stock has tumbled this year, and founder Richard M. Schulze scooped up nearly $20 million in shares of the electronics retailer.
Best Buy (ticker: BBY) shares have dropped 20% in 2022, compared with a 14% decline in the S&P 500. Fourth-quarter earnings, reported in March, were mixed, and the first-quarter report in May met expectations. Analysts are wary that comparisons will be tough, as demand for devices to support working from home was still the trend a year ago, bolstered with stimulus payments. The second half may be more painful.
Schulze paid $19.9 million on May 25 for 250,000 Best Buy shares, at an average price of $79.60 each, according to a filing he made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Schulze made the purchase through a trust that now owns 20.5 million Best Buy shares. Best Buy’s chairman emeritus also owns 1.8 million more shares through vehicles including limited partnerships, retirement accounts, and a family foundation. He remains Best Buy’s second-largest shareholder.
Schulze’s family office said he purchased more shares “due to the market’s overreaction to consumer stocks in the recent market selloff. Best Buy’s P/E trading range created a value opportunity that couldn’t be ignored.”
Schulze last bought stock in October 2008, when he paid $39 million for 1.76 million shares, at an average price of $22.18 each. He was still chairman at the time and remained in that post until 2012. Schulze also served as Best Buy’s chief executive from 1983 to 2002.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.
