{"id":858239,"date":"2026-08-17T08:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/858239\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T08:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:14:09","slug":"jb-hi-fi-cops-record-share-price-plunge-as-retailer-highlights-cost-of-living-pains-ai-squeeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/858239\/","title":{"rendered":"JB Hi-Fi cops record share price plunge as retailer highlights cost of living pains, AI squeeze"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi<\/a> has seen its share price take a massive hit after handing down its full year financial results on Monday. Despite reporting record total sales, recent months have seen the retail giant hit a wall. <\/p>\n

The company saw a major decline in sales growth in the most recent quarter, as the AI infrastructure boom puts pressure on the availability of key items in the electronics hardware supply chain and consumers became more circumspect about their spending<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In the hours after releasing its results, JB Hi-Fi saw its share price plunge as much as 12 per cent after the market opened. <\/p>\n

It’s the biggest percentage intraday fall in value for the ‘bellwether’ retailer, and is set to eclipse the 10.8 per cent share price drop at the onset of the Covid pandemic in Australia. <\/p>\n

RELATED <\/p>\n

Overall, the company \u2013 which also owns The Good Guys and e&s \u2013 saw revenue rise by 4.8 per cent to $11.06 billion in the 12 months to June 30, coming in short of market expectations at $11.1 billion. It also announced a sharply higher dividend. <\/p>\n

But in July, sales growth turned negative for its Australian JB Hi-Fi and Good Guys stores. <\/p>\n

As consumers face higher interest rates and swings in petrol prices, same store sales growth in July was down -1.4 per cent versus the prior corresponding period for JB Hi-Fi stores and -1.7 per cent for the Good Guys business. <\/p>\n

“Trading in the first half of the year was very strong with record sales and strong earnings. The second half of the year saw the onset of challenging macroeconomic and market conditions,” the company said in its annual report. <\/p>\n

Group CEO Nick Wells said the retailer continues “to see variability in trading, with customers increasingly looking for value and migrating spend to key promotional events.” <\/p>\n

He also noted the challenges faced by the technology sector due to the demand in computer chips during the AI data centre build out. Tech companies such as Apple have blamed soaring chip prices, driven by demand from artificial intelligence data centres, for increasing costs \u2013 something RBA governor Michele Bullock recently warned could add to domestic inflation<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Wells noted “supplier price rises and stock availability shortages in the technology categories” have been a headwind for the retailer, adding to the cost of living pressures<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Despite the strong results earlier in the financial year, Forager Funds Management chief investment officer Steve Johnson said the company’s results suggest “discretionary retail is in a world of pain”. <\/p>\n

The group grew its full-year statutory net profit after tax by six per cent to $489.9 million, while sales climbed 4.8 per cent. Sales at its more than 200 Australian JB Hi-Fi stores rose 4.4 per cent to $7.4 billion, with same-store sales up 3.2 per cent overall. <\/p>\n

New Zealand store sales rose 26 per cent to $NZ499.5 million ($416 million), with same-stores sales up 15.3 per cent. <\/p>\n

The Good Guys sales were up 2.7 per cent to $2.9 billion. <\/p>\n

JB Hi-Fi announced a final dividend of $1.27 a share, fully franked, up 21 per cent from a year earlier. <\/p>\n

The company’s share price is now down nearly 40 per cent from its highs last year. <\/p>\n

with AAP <\/p>\n

Get the latest Yahoo Finance news – follow us on Facebook<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>. <\/p>\n