Citigroup: Best Buy 'Clear Winner' On Black Friday

Best Buy Co Inc BBY was a "clear winner" on Black Friday, benefiting from a recent uptick in consumer electronics demand and a strong selection of TVs, laptops, and tablet deals, an analyst said Monday.

Citigroup's Kate McShane also singled out Williams-Sonoma, Inc. WSM as another "top holiday pick" citing improving same-store sales and a recovering housing market.

McShane cautioned that "it becomes more difficult to use Black Friday to gauge" the holiday shopping season, as promotions creep earlier into November each year and sales continue to shift on line.

Nonetheless, a Citi-sponsored "channel check" of a Best Buy location in Framingham, Massachusetts, on Thanksgiving evening and again November 28 found some impressive traffic.

Around the store's 1 a.m. opening time Friday, about 450 people were waiting in line to enter. That compares with about 300 waiting at the same location a year ago.

McShane said traffic was "very strong" at the three Best Buy locations included in the check. Shoppers appeared most interested in TVs, tablets, smart phones, and laptops.

The Citi-sponsored check of a Williams-Sonoma store in the Buffalo, New York, area Thanksgiving evening was less impressive, turning up only about 10 shoppers inside the store, with "traffic improving" on a subsequent check Friday.

A check of Williams-Sonoma's Pottery Barn revealed comparatively "better traffic" while at Pottery Barn Kids, "traffic was very low."

McShane noted that on average, nationwide weather was favorable for shopping, although much of the Northeast was recovering from a minor storm.

The current holiday shopping season is one day longer than the year-ago period, and the season "could be considered even longer" in light of more stores opening on Thanksgiving as well as promotions launching earlier in November, McShane said.

Best Buy recently traded down 5 percent, changing hands at $37.33.

Williams-Sonoma was off more than 1.5 percent at $73.42.