Inventory Turnover › Best Buy
Best Buy Inventory Turnover: Multi-Year 10-K History
Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY) turned its inventory 6.3x in fiscal 2026 (year ended January 31, 2026), holding within a tight 6.3x to 6.7x band for four straight years. As the largest US pure-play electronics retailer it is the most representative named anchor for the consumer-electronics sector. All figures below are from the company 10-K filings on SEC EDGAR.
Quick answer: Best Buy's fiscal 2026 and 2025 10-K inventory turnover ratio
Fiscal 2026 (10-K)
6.3x for the year ended January 31, 2026. $32.32B cost of sales over roughly $5.16B average inventory ($5.09B opening, $5.23B closing). 6.2x on a closing-inventory basis.
Fiscal 2025 (10-K)
6.4x for the year ended February 1, 2025. $32.14B cost of sales over roughly $5.02B average inventory.
Turnover = cost of sales / average inventory (mean of opening and closing balance-sheet inventory). Figures taken from Best Buy's 10-K filings on SEC EDGAR (CIK 0000764478), verified August 2026.
FY23 - FY26 turnover history
| Fiscal Year | Cost of sales | Inv (start) | Inv (end) | Turnover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY23 (ended Jan 2023) | $36.39B | $5.97B | $5.14B | 6.6x |
| FY24 (ended Feb 2024) | $33.85B | $5.14B | $4.96B | 6.7x |
| FY25 (ended Feb 2025) | $32.14B | $4.96B | $5.09B | 6.4x |
| FY26 (ended Jan 2026) | $32.32B | $5.09B | $5.23B | 6.3x |
FY23 (ended Jan 2023): Post-pandemic demand cooled from the FY22 peak; cost of sales fell while inventory was drawn down, holding turnover in the mid-6x range.
FY24 (ended Feb 2024): Sales normalised lower again, but a leaner $4.96B closing inventory lifted turnover to a multi-year high of 6.7x.
FY25 (ended Feb 2025): Inventory rebuilt modestly to support the assortment as cost of sales flattened, easing turnover to 6.4x.
FY26 (ended Jan 2026): Cost of sales edged up while average inventory grew a touch faster, settling turnover at 6.3x, squarely in Best Buy's long-run band.
Source: Best Buy Co., Inc. 10-K filings, fiscal years 2023-2026 (CIK 0000764478). Cost of sales was $36.39B (FY23), $33.85B (FY24), $32.14B (FY25) and $32.32B (FY26); merchandise inventories were $5.97B, $5.14B, $4.96B, $5.09B and $5.23B at each fiscal year-end from January 2022 through January 2026. Turnover = cost of sales divided by average inventory (opening plus closing divided by 2). Best Buy filings index.
Why Best Buy's turnover reads the way it does
1. Obsolescence sets the replenishment cadence
A laptop or TV SKU has a short commercial life before the next chip or panel generation replaces it. Holding stock past that window means writedowns, not markdowns, so Best Buy disciplines stock-weeks against product life-cycle. That keeps turnover well above general-merchandise retail but below fast-moving grocery, where perishability forces daily cycling.
2. Vendor-managed inventory holds the denominator down
Major brands (Apple, Samsung, HP, Sony) carry much of the stock-out risk and ship close to demand, so Best Buy holds less safety stock than its assortment breadth would otherwise require. Long-tail SKUs are increasingly fulfilled direct-ship from vendor warehouses and never sit in retail stock, which trims the inventory base the ratio divides by.
3. Cost of sales carries services and delivery
Best Buy's cost of sales includes not only merchandise cost but services (Geek Squad, installation) and in-bound freight. That is a fair whole-company numerator for a turnover read, but it is not a pure merchandise-cost figure, so exact comparisons with a retailer that reports merchandise COGS alone are approximate rather than like-for-like.
Best Buy vs the electronics field
On the latest 10-Ks the electronics sellers split into two groups. Physical-store specialists cluster in the mid-single digits: Best Buy 6.3x, GameStop 5.5x. Manufacturers that sell direct run far higher because their inventory is largely in-transit components rather than a finished retail assortment: Dell 10.6x, Apple 34.0x. A pure retailer cannot replicate a configure-to-order or just-in-time manufacturing model without controlling the supply chain, so Best Buy's figure, not Apple's, is the actionable benchmark for a store operator.
The practical takeaway: read Best Buy's 6.3x as a stable, well-run electronics-store velocity. If your electronics turnover is below about 4.5x you are likely holding too much slow-moving or obsolescent stock; above 8x you may be understocked and risking lost sales on hero SKUs.
Frequently asked questions
What is Best Buy's inventory turnover ratio in fiscal 2026?
Best Buy turned its inventory 6.3x in fiscal 2026, the year ended January 31, 2026. That is $32.32B of cost of sales divided by roughly $5.16B average inventory (the mean of the $5.09B opening and $5.23B closing balances) from its 10-K. On a simpler closing-inventory basis the ratio is 6.2x. Either way Best Buy sits near the middle of the 4.5x to 8x consumer-electronics band.
How is Best Buy's inventory turnover calculated from the 10-K?
Divide cost of sales by average inventory, where average inventory is the mean of the opening and closing merchandise-inventory balances on the consolidated balance sheet. Both figures come from Best Buy's 10-K on SEC EDGAR (CIK 0000764478). Cost of sales was $32.32B in fiscal 2026; inventory was $5.09B at the start of the year and $5.23B at the end, giving roughly $5.16B average and a 6.3x ratio.
Why is Best Buy's inventory turnover so steady?
Best Buy has run between 6.3x and 6.7x for four straight years despite cost of sales falling from $36.4B in fiscal 2023 to $32.3B in fiscal 2026. Both the numerator (cost of sales) and the denominator (inventory) drifted down together as post-pandemic demand normalised, so the ratio barely moved. The stability reflects mature replenishment discipline: vendor-managed inventory on major brands, tight planogram control, and an aggressive markdown cadence against product life-cycles.
Does Best Buy use LIFO or FIFO?
Neither. Best Buy states merchandise inventories at the lower of average cost or net realisable value, using the weighted-average cost method. Because it does not use LIFO, there is no LIFO reserve to add back, so its reported turnover is directly comparable on an inventory basis with FIFO retailers (unlike Kroger, Walmart or Costco, which use LIFO and carry a reserve).
How does Best Buy's turnover compare with other electronics sellers?
On the latest 10-Ks, specialty electronics retailers cluster in the mid-single digits: Best Buy 6.3x and GameStop 5.5x. Manufacturers that sell direct run far higher because their inventory is largely in-transit components rather than finished retail goods: Dell 10.6x and Apple 34.0x. Best Buy is the most representative benchmark for a physical electronics store because it carries a full retail assortment across categories.
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