Best Buy Co.�s shares tumbled Tuesday after the nation�s largest consumer electronics chain posted a decline in gross profit margin for the fiscal third quarter, citing organized theft and increased promotions compared to a year ago.

The company also offered a muted forecast for a key sales metric for the holiday fourth quarter amid supply constraints that are bedeviling the entire retail industry.

Shares were down more than 16%, or $22.17 per share to reach $115. 63 in morning trading. The stock decline came even as Best Buy�s overall third-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates.

�We are definitely seeing more and more particularly organized retail crime and incidents of shrink in our locations,� Best Buy CEO Corie Barry told analysts during a conference call. �This is a real issue that hurts and scares real people.�

She noted that the company is hiring security guards and working with its vendors on creative ways to stage the product. Barry told reporters during a separate call that the company is seeing organized theft increase across the country, but particularly in San Francisco.

Best Buy is one of a number of retailers calling out increased incidents in organized crime. On Monday night, a group of thieves smashed windows at a Nordstrom store in an upscale mall in Los Angeles.

Best Buy is also facing a slowdown in computing sales from a year ago when locked-down consumers were adapting to working and learning from home. Computing and tablet sales account for about 45% of the company�s domestic revenue mix.

�Relative to last year, when consumers were still adapting to working and learning at home, there just isn�t the impetus in computing that there once was,� said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail.

Appliances remained strong, up 10.9% for the quarter on top of a 39.3% increase in the year-ago period as shoppers continue to renovate their homes.

The company reported third-quarter earnings of $499 million, or $2 per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs and costs related to mergers and acquisitions, were $2.08 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.95 per share.

Gross margin fell to 23.4% from 24% in the year-ago period.

The consumer electronics retailer posted revenue of $11.91 billion in the period, also topping the average Street forecast of $11.71 billion.

The company posted a 1.6% increase in sales at stores opened at least year. That�s on top of the 23% increase it posted in the year-ago period.

For the current quarter ending in January, Best Buy expects revenue in the range of $16.4 billion to $16.9 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $16.95 billion.

The company expects full-year revenue in the range of $51.8 billion to $52.3 billion. Analysts expect $51.86 billion.

Best Buy forecasts comparable sales for the fourth quarter in the range of down 2% to up 1%. Analysts expect 0.1% increase.

The company is raising its full-year outlook for same-store sales to be in the range of 10.5% to 11.5%. Analysts expect 11.5%.

Best Buy shares have risen 38% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P�s 500 index has increased 25%. The stock has risen 16% in the last 12 months.

(AP)