Best Buy Co Inc. | Sustainability ROI Report at Best Buy Co Inc.

Status
Filed
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
5
Resolution details
Company ticker
BBY
Lead filer
National Center for Public Policy
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Governance
ESG sub-theme
  • Corporate purpose
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Staples
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Shareholders request that the Board of Directors publish a report, prepared at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, assessing the extent to which the investments described in the 2025 Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Report (2025 CRS Report) (1) were authorized on the basis of net present value (NPV) and (2) are being maintained on the basis of return on investment (ROI).
Supporting statement
Over the past sixteen years, Best Buy has promoted ambitious ESG goals, including sustainability initiatives and diversity and inclusion initiatives.1 Best Buy has been working to reduce its carbon emissions since 2009, and the Company signed The Climate Pledge in 2020.2 This pledge committed Best Buy to reducing its carbon emissions by 75% by 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2040.3 Best Buy’s 2025 CRS Report describes these and other significant climate and community commitments.4 Yet nowhere does the Company appear to provide transparency into whether these investments were vetted through standard capital-allocation processes or are monitored with financial performance metrics. This lack of transparency impedes shareholders’ ability to properly value their shares and generates concern that at least some of these investments constitute value-destroying greenwashing.5 The 2025 CRS Report outlines several sustainability-related investments that are apparently not accompanied by any NPV or ROI calculations: 1. Best Buy’s carbon emissions initiatives, including the goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, do not include any ROI or NPV analysis demonstrating financial benefits. 2. There appear to be no NPV or ROI disclosures related to Best Buy’s investments in achieving its waste diversion goals. Absent financial analysis, it is difficult for shareholders to assess whether investment in waste systems yields net positive returns relative to cost.6 3. Best Buy reports that 144 million pounds of electronics and appliances were collected for recycling in FY 2025 but based on current disclosures it is arguably impossible for shareholders to determine whether the capital Best Buy invested to achieve these recycling numbers could have been more profitably invest elsewhere.7 Best Buy’s 2025 CRS Report highlights significant sustainability initiatives but provides no evidence that these investments were evaluated or monitored using NPV or ROI metrics. This lack of financial transparency makes it difficult for shareholders to assess whether these programs create long-term value or risk being value-destroying initiatives. Greater transparency linking ESG commitments to financial analysis is essential for informed shareholder oversight and prudent capital allocation. 1 https://corporate.bestbuy.com/our-goals/. 2 https://corporate.bestbuy.com/2020/best-buy-signs-the-climate-pledge-accelerating-sustainability-goals/. 3 https://corporate.bestbuy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/BestBuy-CRS-Report-2025.pdf. 4 https://corporate.bestbuy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/BestBuy-CRS-Report-2025.pdf. 5 According to our research, as of December 12, 2025, Best Buy Co., Inc. has underperformed the S&P 500 by roughly 29.20 percentage points the past 12 months. 6 https://corporate.bestbuy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/BestBuy-CRS-Report-2025.pdf. 7 https://corporate.bestbuy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/BestBuy-CRS-Report-2025.pdf.

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