Best Buy Bears Retreat as Analysts Raise Targets Ahead of Thursday's Print

Best Buy reports Thursday with short sellers standing down and the analyst community lifting estimates — yet the stock is still sliding into the number, down 2.5% on Tuesday alone.

The positioning shift since last week's preview is notable. Short interest has edged lower again, now at 7.47% of the float — a continuation of the retreat from late-July peaks above 8.5%. Cost to borrow has dropped sharply, falling 29% over the past week to just 0.27%, its lowest reading in the 30-day history. Borrow availability remains enormous at over 2,600% relative to shares on loan, confirming there is no squeeze pressure and little urgency among new shorts. Options have also cooled from last week's defensive extreme: the put/call ratio pulled back to 0.89 on Tuesday, roughly one standard deviation above its 20-day average of 0.82 — elevated, but nowhere near the two-standard-deviation spike recorded ahead of last week's release date. Positioning looks cautious rather than crowded.

The analyst story cuts in the opposite direction from the bears. Multiple firms lifted targets in the run-up, with Truist upgrading to Buy and raising its target to $95 — the boldest call in the recent batch. Piper Sandler and Citigroup both maintained Neutral ratings but nudged targets higher, to $85 and $88 respectively. Wells Fargo similarly kept its Equal-Weight but raised its target from $65 to $85. The mean consensus target is now $83.40, fractionally below Tuesday's close of $85.29 — meaning the stock has effectively lapped the analyst community's average estimate of fair value. B of A reinstated with Underperform and an $80 target earlier this month, and Jefferies downgraded to Hold, so the upgrades are not unanimous. The debate is squarely about whether the AI-upgrade cycle in computing and rising ASPs in televisions can offset persistent weakness in core consumer electronics demand, where third-party data has pointed to domestic comp declines of 2-3%.

The founder angle adds texture to the ownership picture. Richard Schulze, Chairman Emeritus and still holding over 5.5% of shares, sold approximately $74 million of stock across July 13-14 alone — a continuation of a selling pattern running back through June. That pace of disposal from the company's longest-standing major holder is worth noting, even if the significance scores on each trade remain modest.

Thursday's print will test whether the AI upgrade narrative has begun to show up in actual sales and margin data, or whether the weak comp trends flagged by bears have continued to dominate the top line.