Piper Jaffray Reiterates Neutral Rating, $13 PT on Best Buy

In a report published Friday, Piper Jaffray & Co. reiterated its Neutral rating and $13.00 price target on Best Buy Co.

. Piper Jaffray noted, “Best Buy's holiday sales release showed improvement from Q3 with the 9-week comp of -1.4%, generally above expectations. Category performance was in line with what we expected with strength coming from phones, tablets/eReaders, and appliances, while TVs remained weak. For overall profitability for the period, BBY only stated that results were in line with its general operating expectations. However, it lowered its full year FCF guidance due to the timing of inventory payables. If there is one takeaway, the holiday period results represent the first announcement in a while that did not miss sales (and potentially margin) expectations. That said, we expect a very cautious outlook for the coming year and believe it is too soon to declare a successful turnaround is underway. BBY will report full quarter results on February 28.” Best Buy Co. closed on Thursday at $12.21.