"We do see evidence that suggests consumer spending will bedifficult to read," said Darren Jackson, the company's chieffinancial officer, during Best Buy's quarterly conference call.Earnings slid 18% year over year, to $192 million, but totalrevenue jumped 14%, to $7.9 billion.

Based on the first quarter's results, management lowered thecompany's full-year, earnings-per-share guidance to between $2.95and $3.15 from between $3.10 and $3.25. "We know it does notreflect the core health of our business," said Brad Anderson, BestBuy's vice chairman and chief executive officer, commenting on thequarter.

Best Buy fared better in other countries. Same-store sales inCanada rose 12.8% year over year, fueled by notebook-computer andgaming transactions. Revenue from the newly-acquired Chinese chainFive Star totaled about $300 million, executives say.