Unless the context otherwise requires, the use of the terms "we," "us" and "our" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K refers to Best Buy Co., Inc. and, as applicable, its consolidated subsidiaries.

During fiscal 2014, we operatedWe have two reportable segments: Domestic and International. The Domestic segment is comprised of the operations in all states, districts and territories of the U.S., operating under various brand names including but not limited to, Best Buy, bestbuy.com, Best Buy Mobile, Best Buy Direct, Best Buy Express, Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video and Pacific Sales. We operate Best Buy Mobile stores-within-a-store and offer Geek Squad services in all of our U.S. Best Buy stores. In addition, we operate Magnolia Home Theater Magnolia Design Center and Pacific Kitchen and Home store-within-a-store experiences in select U.S. Best Buy stores, which we believe further enhance the unique product offerings and high-touch customer service provided in the stand-alone stores.

The International segment is comprised of: (i)of all operations in Canada operations, operatingand Mexico under the brand names Best Buy, bestbuy.com.ca, bestbuy.com.mx, Best Buy Mobile, Cell Shop, Connect Pro, Future Shop and Geek Squad; (ii) all China operations, operating under the brand names Five Star andExpress, Best Buy Mobile and (iii) all Mexico operations, operatingGeek Squad.

In March 2015, we decided to consolidate Future Shop and Best Buy stores and websites in Canada under the brand names Best Buy brand. This resulted in permanently closing 66 Future Shop stores and converting 65 Future Shop stores to the Best Buy Express and Geek Squad. We operate Best Buy Mobile store-within-a-store concepts in all Best Buy branded stores in Canada, as well as in select Five Star stores.brand.

In fiscal 2007, we acquired a 75% interest in Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co., Ltd. (“Five Star”), one of China’s largest appliance and consumer electronics retailers. In fiscal 2009, we acquired the remaining 25% interest in Five Star. On December 3, 2014, we entered into an agreement to sell Five Star, and we completed the sale on February 13, 2015. In fiscal 2009, we acquired a 50% controlling interest in Best Buy Europe Distributions Limited (“Best Buy Europe”), a venture with Carphone Warehouse Group plc (“CPW”). On June 26, 2013, we sold our 50% ownership interest in Best Buy Europe to CPW.

Our Canada and Mexico store operations are similar to those in our Domestic segment, with centrally controlled advertising, merchandise purchasingsegment.

Our Domestic Segment

Our Domestic and International segmentsegments purchase merchandise from a variety of suppliers. In fiscal 2014,2016, our 20 largest suppliers accounted for approximately 70%75% of the merchandise we purchased, with 5five suppliers – Apple, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Sony and LG Electronics – representing approximately 45%51% of total merchandise purchased. We generally do not have long-term contracts with our major suppliers that would require them to continue supplying us with merchandise.merchandise or any other terms.

We carefully monitor and manage our inventory levels to match quantities on hand with consumer demand as closely as possible. Key elements to our inventory management process include the following: continuous monitoring of historical and projected consumer demand, continuous monitoring and adjustment of inventory receipt levels, agreements with vendors relating to reimbursement for the cost of markdowns or sales incentives and agreements with vendors relating to return privileges for certain products.

We had approximately 1,200 large-format and 400 small-format stores at the end of fiscal 2016 throughout our Domestic Segment

We have secured domestic and international trademark and service mark registrations for many of our brands. We have also secured patents for many of our inventions. We believe our intellectual property has significant value and is an important factor in the marketing of our company, our stores, our products and our websites.

Our business, like that of many retailers, is seasonal. A higher proportion of our revenue and earnings is generated in the fiscal fourth quarter, which includes the majority of the holiday shopping season in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

We fund our business operations through a combination of available cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and cash flows generated from operations. In addition, our revolving credit facilities are available for additional working capital needs, for general corporate purposes and investment and growth opportunities. Our working capital needs typically increase in the months leading up to the holiday shopping season as we purchase inventory in advance of expected sales.

Our competitors are primarily traditional store-based retailers, multi-channel retailers, internet-based businesses, technology service providers, traditional store-based retailers and vendors and mobile network carriers, who offer their products and services directly to the consumer.

Best Buy is committed to positively impacting the environment and our communities. We are working to transform our company in many ways, including lesseningbelieve that effectively managing our environmental impact. In the U.S., consumers recycle more electronics through Best Buy than any other retailer. We set a goal to collect one billion poundsimpacts, setting sustainability goals and advancing energy-efficient consumer solutions creates long-term value for all of consumer electronics and appliances for recycling from June 2008 through December 2014. In fiscal 2014, we collected about 118 million pounds of consumer electronics and 112 million pounds of appliances, bringing our overall total to approximately 930 million pounds.stakeholders. 

Copies of any of the above-referenced documents will also be made available, free of charge, upon written request to Best Buy Co., Inc. Investor Relations Department at 7601 Penn Avenue South, Richfield, MN 55423-3645.

Described below are certain risks that we believe apply to our business and the industry in which we operate. You should carefully consider each of the following risk factors in conjunction with other information provided in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other public disclosures. The risks described below highlight potential events, trends or other circumstances that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity or access to sources of financing, and consequently, the market value of our common stock and debt instruments. These risks could cause our future results to differ materially from historical results and from guidance we may provide regarding our expectations of future financial performance. The risks described below are not an exhaustive list of all the risks we face. There may be others that we have not identified or that we have deemed to be immaterial. All forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf are qualified by the risks described below.

The retail business is highly competitive. Price is of primarygreat importance to most customers, and price transparency and comparability continues to increase, particularly as a result of digital tools.technology. The ability of consumers to compare prices on a real-time basis puts additional pressure on us to maintain competitive prices. We compete with many other local, regional, national and international retailers and technology service providers, as well as certain of our vendors and mobile network carriers who offer their products directly to consumers. Some of our competitors have greater market presence and financial resources than we do.us and may be able to offer lower prices than us for a sustained period of time. The retail industry continues to experience a trend towardtowards an increase in internet sales initiated online and using mobile applications, and some internet-onlyonline-only businesses have lower operating costs than us and are not required to collect and remit sales taxes in all U.S. states, which can negatively impact the ability of store-basedmulti-channel retailers to be price competitive. In addition, becausecompetitive on a tax-included basis. Online and multi-channel retailers continue to focus on delivery services, with customers increasingly seeking faster, guaranteed delivery times and low-price or free shipping. Our ability to be competitive on delivery times and delivery costs depends on many factors, and our failure to successfully manage these factors and offer competitive delivery options could negatively impact the demand for our products and our profit margins. Because our business strategy is based on offering superior levels of customer service utilizingand a multi-channel platform,full range of services to complement the products we offer, our cost structure is higher than some of our competitors. Changescompetitors, and this, in conjunction with price transparency, puts pressure on our margins.

In general, consumer electronics product life cycles (which begin with initial market launch and conclude with maturity or obsolescence) have become shorter and less predictable. This is largely due to rapid technological advancement and innovation and generally faster adoption by consumers. Consumer preferences have also become susceptible to rapid change and this adds to the levelsunpredictability of our business. These factors affect us in a number of ways, for example:

The effects of these variousfactors can also be exacerbated by the competitive environment and the ease with which customers can research and compare product features and price. If we fail to interpret, predict and react to these factors may havein a significant impact on consumer demand for ourtimely and effective manner, the consequences can include:

We source the marginsproducts we sell from a wide variety of domestic and international vendors. In fiscal 2016, our 20 largest suppliers accounted for approximately 75% of the merchandise we purchased (73% in fiscal 2015), with 5 suppliers – Apple, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Sony and LG Electronics – representing approximately 51% of total merchandise purchased (47% in fiscal 2015). We generally do not have long-term written contracts with our vendors that would require them to continue supplying us with merchandise or any other terms. Our profitability depends on us securing acceptable terms with our vendors for, among other things, the price of merchandise we purchase from them, funding for various forms of promotional programs, payment terms, allocations of merchandise, development of compelling assortments of products, operation of vendor-focused shopping experiences within our stores and terms covering returns and factory warranties. To varying degrees, our vendors may be able to leverage their competitive advantages -- for example, their financial strength, the strength of their brand with customers, their own stores or online channels or their relationships with other retailers -- to our commercial disadvantage, with a consequent adverse impact on our profitability. The potential adverse impact of these factors can generatebe amplified by price transparency (which can limit our flexibility to modify selling prices) and a highly competitive retail environment. Generally, our ability to negotiate favorable terms with our vendors is more difficult with vendors where our purchases represent a smaller proportion of their total revenues, consequently impacting our profitability from them.such vendor relationships.

Failurecease allowing us to anticipateoffer their contracts, focus their marketing efforts on alternative channels or make unfavorable changes to our commissions or other terms. Each of these potential factors could have a materially adverse impact on our revenue and respondprofitability.

We have internal standards that we require all of our vendors to changing consumer preferencesmeet. Our ability to find qualified vendors who meet our standards and supply products in a timely and efficient manner can be a challenge, especially with respect to goods sourced from outside the U.S. Political or financial instability, merchandise quality issues, product safety concerns, trade restrictions, work stoppages, port delays, tariffs, foreign currency exchange rates, transportation capacity and costs, inflation, civil unrest, natural disasters, outbreaks of pandemics and other factors relating to foreign trade are beyond our control. These and other issues affecting our vendors could result in a decline inmaterially adversely affect our sales.financial results.

In addition, as customers increasingly migrate to websites and mobile applications to initiate transactions, it is inherently more difficult to demonstrate and explain the features and benefits of our service offerings, which can lead to a lower revenue mix of these services. If, for these or worsening economicother reasons, we fail to design and market services effectively to our customers or fail to meet our customers’ expectations in the execution of these services, our reputation, revenue and profitability could be adversely affected.

For the past several years, we have experienced the impact of difficult and uncertain macroeconomic conditions in the geographic markets in which we operate. Some ofTo varying degrees, our products and services are viewed by some consumers to be discretionary items rather than necessities. As a result, our results of operations are sensitive to changes in macroeconomic conditions that impact consumer spending. As a result, consumers may be affected in many different ways, including, for example:

Consumer confidence, employment levels, oil prices, interest rates, tax rates, availability of consumer financing, housing market conditions, andforeign currency exchange rate fluctuations, costs for items such as fuel energy and food and other macroeconomic trends can adversely affect consumers' demand for the products and services that we offer. Our future results could be significantly adversely impacted by these factors.

Our performance is highly dependent on attracting, retaining and retainingengaging appropriately qualified employees, including our senior managementexecutive team and other employees in key employees.positions. Our strategy of offering high quality services and assistance for our customers requires a highly trained and engaged workforce. The turnover rate in the retail industry is relatively high, and there is an ongoing need to recruit and train new store employees. Factors that affect our ability to maintain sufficient numbers of qualified employees include employee morale, our reputation, unemployment rates, competition from other employers and our ability to offer appropriate compensation packages. Our inabilityFailure to recruit a sufficient number ofor retain qualified individuals or failure to retain key employees in the future may impair our efficiency and effectiveness and our ability to pursue growth opportunities. In addition, we have experienced a significant amount of turnover of senior managementour executive team or other employees in key positions with specific knowledge relating to us, our operations and our industry which turnover may negatively impact our operations.

We operate a global portfolio of brands with a commitment to customer service and innovation. We believe that recognition and the reputation of our brands are key to our success. The proliferationubiquity of web-based social media means that consumercustomer feedback and other information about our company are shared with a broad audience in a manner that is easily accessible and rapidly disseminated. Damage to the perception or reputation of our brands could result in declines in customer loyalty, decreases in gift card and service plan sales, lower employee retention and productivity, vendor relationship issues and other factors, all of which could materially affect our revenue and profitability.

We operate in a highly-competitive and ever-changing commercial environment. Our success is dependent on our ability to identify, develop and execute appropriate strategies.strategies within this environment. Strategies that have proved successful in the past may not be successful in the future. Our current strategy includes transformational change to manycertain areas of our business including our online and in-store customer experience, expanding our distribution system by shipping to customers from our stores, employee training and engagement, partnership with our vendors, retail execution and cost control. Achieving the goals we have set in a timely manner will be challenging, and itpursuit of new growth opportunities. It is possible that our strategies may prove to be ineffective and that we may need to make substantial changes to them in future periods.the future. It is also possible that we will be unsuccessful in executing our strategies or that the strategies we will implementthey expose us to additional risks or that strategies that have been successful in the past will fail to produce the desired results.risks. Our results could be materially adversely affected if we fail to designdevelop and execute appropriate strategies. The market value of our common stock and debt instruments could be materially adversely affected if investors are uncertain about the appropriateness of our strategies or our ability to execute them.

As a multi-national retailer, effectiveEffective management of our large propertyreal estate portfolio is critical to our success.omni-channel strategy. We primarily secure properties through operating leases with third-party landlords. In light of the long-term nature of most of these commitments, it is essential that we effectively evaluate a range of factors that may influence our long-term real estate strategy. Such factors include, for example:

If we fail to effectively evaluate these factors, fail to negotiate appropriate terms which keep us market competitive, or if unforeseen changes arise, the consequences could include, for new leases we enter into, we may incur lease costs that are excessive and cause operating margins to be below acceptable levels. We may also make term commitments that are too long or too short, without the option to extend. The availability of suitable new property locations may also hinder our ability to maintain or grow our operations. Factors such as the condition of local property markets, availability of lease financing, taxes, zoning and environmental issues, and competitive actions may impact the availability for suitable property.example:

For leased property, the financial impact of exiting a propertylocation can vary greatly depending on, among other factors, the terms of the lease, the condition of the local propertyreal estate market, demand for the specific property, our relationship with the landlord and the availability of potential sub-lease tenants. It is difficult for us to influence some of these factors. If these factors are unfavorable to us, thenand the costs of exiting a property can be significant. WhenWe are still responsible for the maintenance, taxes, insurance, and common area maintenance charges for vacant properties until the lease commitment expires or is terminated. Similarly, when we enter into a contract with a tenant to sub-lease property, we remainusually retain our obligations as the master lessor. This leaves us at risk for any remaining liability in the event of default by the tenant and the impact of such defaults on our future results could be significant.sub-lease tenant.

CertainSome of our operating costs are fixed and/or are subject to multi-year contracts. Some elements of our costs may be higher than our competitors, because, for example, of our differential service offerings or levels of customer service. As discussed above, our revenues are susceptible to volatility from various sources, which can lead to periods of flat or declining revenues. Accordingly, our ongoing drive to reduce cost structure are largely fixed in nature. Consumer spending remains uncertain, which makes it more challenging for us to maintain orand increase our operating income. The competitiveness in our industry and increasing price transparency mean that the focus on achieving efficient operations is greater than ever. Asefficiency represents a result, we must continuously focus on managing our cost structure.strategic imperative. Failure to successfully manage our laborcosts could have a material adverse impact on our profitability and benefit rates, advertising and marketing expenses, operating leases, other store expenses or indirect spending could severely impaircurtail our ability to maintainfund our price competitiveness while achieving acceptable levels of profitability.growth or other critical initiatives.

We need sufficient sources of liquidity to fund our working capital requirements, service our outstanding indebtedness and finance investmentbusiness opportunities. Without sufficient liquidity, we could be forced to curtail our operations, or we may not be able to pursue business opportunities. The principal sources of our liquidity are funds generated from operating activities, available cash and liquid investments, credit facilities, other debt arrangements and trade payables. Our liquidity could be materially adversely impacted if our vendors reduce payment terms and/or impose tighter credit limits. If our sources of liquidity do not satisfy our requirements, we may need to seek additional financing. The future availability of financing will depend on a variety of factors, such as economic and market conditions, the regulatory environment for banks and other financial institutions, the availability of credit and our credit ratings and our reputation with potential lenders. These factors could materially adversely affect our costs of borrowing and our ability to pursue growthbusiness opportunities, and threaten our ability to meet our obligations as they become due.

Our credit ratings and outlooks at January 30, 2016 are summarized below. In fiscal 2014,2016, Standard & Poor's Rating Services upgraded its long-term credit rating from BB to BB+ with a Stable outlook. Moody's Investors Service, Inc. maintainedupgraded its long-term credit rating atfrom Baa2 but revised its outlook from Developing to Negative.Baa1 with a Stable outlook. Fitch Ratings Ltd. and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services maintained theirLimited upgraded its long-term credit ratings at BB- andrating from BB respectively, and each revised its outlook from Negative to Stable.BBB- with a Stable outlook.

FutureAny future downgrades to our credit ratings and outlook could negatively impact our access to capital markets, the borrowing cost for future financings and the perception of our credit risk, by lenders and other third parties.thus our access to capital markets, borrowing costs, vendor terms and lease terms. Our credit ratings are based upon information furnished by us or obtained by a rating agency from its own sources and are subject to revision, suspension or withdrawal by one or more rating agencies at any time. Rating agencies may change the ratings assigned to us due to developments that are beyond our control, including the introduction of new rating practices and methodologies.

Approximately one-third of our credit facilitiesrevenue and could resultmore than one-half of our net earnings have historically been generated in higher interest costs on future financings.our fourth fiscal quarter, which includes the majority of the holiday shopping season in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In addition, downgrades may impactthe holiday shopping season also incorporates many other unpredictable factors, such as the level of promotional activity and customer buying patterns, and forecasting and reacting to these factors quickly is difficult. Unexpected events or developments such as natural or man-made disasters, product sourcing issues, failure or interruption of management information systems, or disruptions in services or systems provided or managed by third-party vendors could significantly disrupt our ability to obtain adequate financing, including via trade payables withoperations. As a result of these factors, there is a risk that our vendors. Customers' inclination to shop with us or purchase gift cards or extended warranties may also be affected by the publicity associated with deterioration of our credit ratings.fourth quarter and annual results are adversely affected.

From time to time, our strategy has involved, and may inIn the future, involve, enteringwe may decide to enter into new business ventures, and strategic alliances and makingor acquisitions. Assessing a potential opportunity can be based on assumptions that might not ultimately prove to be correct. In addition, the amount of information we can obtain about a potential opportunity may be limited, and we can give no assurance that new business ventures, strategic alliances and acquisitions will positively affect our financial performance or will perform as planned. limited.

The success of these opportunitiesventures, alliances or acquisitions is also largely dependent on the current and future participation, working relationship and strategic vision of the business venture or strategic alliance partners, which can change following a transaction. Integrating new businesses, stores andor concepts can be a difficult task. Cultural differences in some markets into which we may expand or into which we may introduce new retail concepts may not be as well received by customers as originally anticipated.and risky. These types of transactions may divert our capital and our management's attention from other business issues and opportunities and may also negatively impact our return on invested capital. Further, implementing strategicEntering into new ventures, alliances or business venturesacquisitions may also impair our relationships with our vendors or other strategic partners. We may not be able to successfully assimilate or integrate companiesbusinesses that we acquire, including their personnel, financial systems, distribution, operations and general operating procedures. Weprocedures, or we may also encounter challenges in achieving appropriate internal control over financial reporting and deficiencies in information technology systems in connection with the integration of an acquired company. If we failreporting. Failure to assimilate or integrate acquired companies successfully, our business, reputation and operating results could suffer materially. Likewise, our failure toeffectively integrate and manage acquired companies successfullystrategic ventures, alliances and acquisitions could adversely affect our profitability and liquidity and may lead torequire impairment of the associated goodwill, and intangible asset balances.tradenames or other assets.

The use and handling of personally identifiable data by our business, our business associates and third parties is regulated at the state, federal and international levels. We are also contractually obligated to comply with certain industry standards regarding payment card information. Increasing costs associated with information security, such as increased investment in technology and qualified staff, the costs of compliance and costs resulting from consumer fraud could cause our business and results of operations to suffer materially. Additionally, the success of our online operations depends upon the secure transmission of customer and other confidential information over public networks, including the use of cashless payments. While we take significant steps to protect this information, lapses in our controls or the intentional or negligent actions of employees, business associates or third parties may undermine our security measures. As a result, unauthorized parties may obtain access to our data systems and misappropriate employee, customer and other confidential data. There can be no assurance that advancesAdvances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other developments willmay not prevent the compromise of our customer transaction processing capabilities and customer personal data. Furthermore, because the methods used to obtain unauthorized access change frequently and may not be immediately detected, we may be unable to anticipate these methods or promptly implement preventative measures. Any such compromise of our security or the security of information residing with our business associates or third parties could have a material adverse effect on our reputation or our relationship with our employees, which may in turn have a negative impact on our revenue, and may expose us to material costs, penalties and compensation claims. In addition, any compromise of our data

security may materially increase the costs we incur to protect against such breaches and could subject us to additional legal risk.

The threatrisk or actual occurrence of one or more natural disasters or other extreme weathervarious catastrophic events whether as a result of climate change or otherwise, the threat or outbreak of terrorism, civil unrest or other hostilities or conflicts, could materially adversely affect our financial performance. TheseSuch events may result in damage tobe caused by, for example:

Such events can also adversely affect our work force and prevent employees and customers from reaching our stores and other properties can modify consumer purchasing patterns and decrease disposable income, and can disrupt or disable portions of our supply chain and distribution network. As a consequence of these or other catastrophic events, we may endure interruption to our operations or losses of property, equipment or inventory, which would adversely affect our revenue and profitability.

Sales of our exclusive brands products, which primarily include Insignia, Modal, Dynex, Init, Platinum and Rocketfish branded products, represent an important component of our revenue. Most of these products are manufactured by contractedcontract manufacturers based in southeastern Asia. This arrangement exposes us to the following additional potential risks, which could materially adversely affect our reputation, financial condition and operating results:

Maintaining consistent quality, availability and competitive pricing of our exclusive brands products helps us build and maintain customer loyalty, generate salesrevenue and achieve acceptable margins. Failure to maintain these factors could have a significant adverse impact on the demand for exclusive brand products and the marginsprofits we are able to generate from them.

Our statutory, regulatory and legal environments expose us to complex compliance and litigation risks that could materially adversely affect our operations and financial results.operations. The most significant compliance and litigation risks we face are:

The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) continually considers changesAs an employer of approximately 125,000 people in a large number of different jurisdictions, we are subject to laborrisks related to employment laws and regulations many of which could significantly impactincluding, for example:

Additional legislation or regulatory activityChanges to laws and regulations such as these could have a material adverseadversely impact on our costs or disruptreputation, our operations.ability to continue operations and thus our revenue and profitability.

 

We offer promotional financing throughand credit cards issued by a third-party bankbanks that managesmanage and directly extendsextend credit to our customers. The cardholdersCustomers choosing promotional financing can receive extended payment terms and low- or no-interest promotional financing on qualifying purchases. Promotional financing credit card sales account for approximately 19% of our revenue in fiscal 2014. We view these arrangementsour financing programs as a way to generate incremental salesrevenue of products and services from customers who prefer the financing terms to other available forms of payment, and incrementalpayment. Approximately 21% of our fiscal 2016 revenue was transacted using one of the company's branded cards. In addition, we earn profit-share income from the payments received from our banking partners. The profitability of our new credit card arrangement is more dependentpartners based on the performance of our credit card portfolio than our previous arrangement. Regulatory, legislative or economicthe programs. The income we earn in this regard is subject to numerous factors, including the volume and value of transactions, the terms of promotional financing offers, bad debt rates, interest rates, the regulatory and competitive environment and expenses of operating the program. Adverse changes to any of these factors could adversely affectimpair our ability to offer these programs to customers and reduce our ability to earn income from sharing in the performanceprofits of the portfolio, and this may have a material adverse effect on our revenues and profitability.

 

 

The effective and efficient operation of our business is dependent on our management information systems. We rely heavily on our management information systems to manage all key aspects of our business, including demand forecasting, purchasing, supply chain management, point-of-sale processing, services fulfillment, staff planning and deployment, website offerings, financial management, reporting and forecasting and safeguarding critical and sensitive information. The failure of our management information systems to perform as we anticipate (whether from internal or external factors), or to meet the continuously evolving needs of our business, could significantly disrupt our business and cause, for example, higher costs and lost revenues and could threaten our ability to remain in operation.

 

 

We engage key third-party business partners to managesupport various functions of our business, including but not limited to, information technology, web hosting and cloud-based services, human resource operations, customer loyalty programs, promotional financing and customer loyalty credit cards, gift cards, customer warranty, technical support and insurance programs. Any material disruption in our relationship with key third-party business partners or any disruption in the services or systems provided or managed by third parties could impact our revenues and cost structure and hinder our ability to continue operations, particularly if a disruption occurs during peak revenue periods.

 

We are highly dependent on the cash flows and net earnings we generate during our fourth fiscal quarter, which includes the majority of the holiday shopping season.

These factors could significantly disrupt our fourth fiscal quarter couldInternational operations and have a material adverse effect on our annual results of operations.revenue and profitability and could lead to us incurring material impairments and other exit costs.

 

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BBY. In fiscal 2004, our Board initiated the payment of a regular quarterly cash dividend with respect to shares of our common stock. A quarterly cash dividend has been paid in each subsequent quarter. In addition, our Board approved a special dividend that was declared and paid in the first quarter of fiscal 2016. Another special dividend that was announced on February 25, 2016 will be paid in the first quarter of fiscal 2017. Future dividend payments will depend on our earnings, capital requirements, financial condition and other factors considered relevant by our Board. The table below sets forth the high and low sales prices of our common stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange – Composite Index and the dividends declared and paid during the periods indicated.