Best Buy profits lower

NEW YORK – Best Buy Co. posted first-quarter results that showed shoppers pulled back on spending, while higher costs ate into profits.

The nation’s largest consumer electronics chain also cut its annual outlook, noting a deteriorating macro economic environment.

Best Buy was among a handful of big winners in the pandemic, as shoppers splurged on tech equipment like laptops to create home offices to help them with remote work or cater to the needs of their children for virtual learning.

But like many retailers, Best Buy is struggling with rising costs for everything from labor to shipping. The electronics chain also had to navigate global chip shortages.

Stellantis reports Samsung venture

KOKOMO, Ind. – A joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung plans to build an electric vehicle battery factory in Indiana that will employ up to 1,400 workers and become the company’s second such factory in North America.

The venture announced Tuesday plans to spend more than $2.5 billion on the plant in Kokomo that will supply electric battery modules for a range of vehicles produced at Stellantis’ North American assembly plants.

Construction of the plant is expected to start later this year, with the facility expected to open in early 2025 in the city about 60 miles north of Indianapolis.

From wire reports

The venture’s investment in the plant could gradually increase up to $3.1 billion, Mark Stewart, the chief operating officer of Stellantis North America, said at the announcement at Ivy Tech Community College in Kokomo.

Samsung SDI will use its PRiMX technology to produce electric vehicle battery cells and modules for the North American market at the Kokomo plant, the companies said in a statement.