Stocks to Watch: Best Buy, HP, Family Dollar

NEW YORK -- Best Buy (BBY) founder Richard Schulze and at least four private-equity firms have started examining the books of the company, the world's biggest consumer electronics chain, in what could become a potential $11 billion buyout, according to people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported.

The report, citing sources, said Apollo Global Management, Cerberus Capital Management, TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners were among firms conducting due diligence on Best Buy, as were Schulze and his financial advisers at Credit Suisse.

Schulze also is negotiating individually with the private-equity firms on details such as how much of his roughly 20% in Best Buy he would contribute in a bid, and what role he would play after a buyout, the sources told Reuters.

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Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman holds her first analyst meeting Wednesday since taking over as CEO in September 2011.

Shares of HP are off about 34% so far in 2012, amid investor questions about strategy, including the tech giant's still-profitable printing division.

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MetroPCS Communications (PCS) confirmed Tuesday it's in talks with T-Mobile USA about a potential merger.

"MetroPCS today confirmed that it is in discussions with Deutsche Telekom regarding an agreement to combine T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS. There can be no assurances that any transaction will result from these discussions, and the Company does not intend to comment further unless and until an agreement is reached," said a statement from MetroPCS on Tuesday.

Shares of MetroPCS rose close to 18% in trading Tuesday on the news.

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Family Dollar Stores (FDO) is expected by analysts Wednesday to report fiscal fourth-quarter profit of 75 cents a share in the August-ended period on revenue of $2.36 billion.

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Monsanto (MON), the chemicals company, is expected by analysts to post quarterly earnings of 43 cents a share on sales of $2.22 billion.

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Xyratex (XRTX) fell well short of Wall Street's fiscal third-quarter earnings expectations on Tuesday, citing weaker-than-expected enterprise storage demand.

For its fourth quarter ending in November, Xyratex forecast an adjusted loss of 15 cents to 43 cents a share on revenue ranging from $235 million to $285 million.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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