NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of Best Buy Co. surged Thursday after the electronics seller posted fiscal fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street's expectations.
Net income for the three months ended Feb. 27 jumped nearly 37% to $779 million, or $1.82 a share. Revenue rose 12% to $16.6 billion from a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for earnings of $1.79 a share on sales of $16.08 billion.
Comparable sales gained 7.4%, driven by double-digit percentage increases in sales of its notebook computers and flat-panel TVs.
Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) shares rose 7% in early trading, but pared gains a bit to end the day almost 3.6% higher.
The government reported that overall retail sales last month rose 0.3%, better than what analysts had been expecting. The increase was led by a 3.7% jump in electronics and appliance sales, signaling that demand in the sector may be recovering.
In January, Best Buy said sales grew 13% in December, the first holiday season without competition from Circuit City, which closed its doors last year.
Looking ahead, Best Buy forecast earnings of $3.45 to $3.60 per share for fiscal year 2011. 
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