Best Buy Profit Rises 10% in 2nd Quarter

Strong sales of entertainment software and digital products helped boost Best Buy Co.’s fiscal second-quarter earnings by 10% to $85 million, or 39 cents a share, a penny better than analysts’ forecasts.

Best Buy, the nation’s largest consumer electronics retailer, said revenue jumped 31% to $4.16 billion.

The increase reflected the addition of 66 Best Buy stores over the last year for a total 439, as well as sales from about 1,300 Musicland Group stores that the company acquired this year.

Best Buy said last week’s terrorist attacks tempered its overall enthusiasm about the results. It said it’s too early to speculate on how consumer spending and product flow in the second half will be affected. The company lost one store, a Sam Goody near the World Trade Center, in the attacks.

Best Buy shares jumped $1.37 to $49.37 on the New York Stock Exchange.