Best Buy Co beat Wall Street's view for profit and sales in its holiday quarter and forecast stronger-than-expected earnings in the current year, sending shares up 7.7 percent.

Many analysts had expected the top U.S. electronics chain to gain market share in its first holiday season after archrival Circuit City went bankrupt.

The key holiday quarter was helped by demand for notebook computers, mobile phones and flat-screen televisions, the company said.

The consumer is coming out of hiding here, said Timothy Ghriskey, co-founder of investment firm Solaris Group, adding Best Buy's outlook was conservative.

Management is trying not to be heroic in terms of the upcoming fiscal year. I think they are trying to keep expectations low, he said. There isn't great visibility on the economy.

While also fending off growing competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Amazon.com Inc , Best Buy has benefited from investing more in customer service, such as promoting Twelpforce to answer queries on Twitter and providing its Geek Squad repair assistance to shoppers.

Best Buy's net profit rose to $779 million, or $1.82 a share in the fourth quarter ended February 27, up from $570 million, or $1.35 a share, a year earlier.

Net revenue rose 12 percent to $16.55 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $1.79 a share, excluding items, on revenue of $16.08 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

For fiscal 2011, it expects to earn $3.45 a share to $3.60 a share on revenue of $52 billion to $53 billion. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $3.37 a share on revenue of $52.14 billion.

Best Buy shares were up 7.7 percent at $44.38 in premarket trading.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan, editing by Michele Gershberg and Dave Zimmerman)

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