Best Buy's Q4 earnings: 3 things to watch

Best Buy made headlines on Tuesday with the announcement it was cutting 400 jobs at its Richfield headquarters as part of its ongoing restructuring efforts. And there's certain to be more news to come this week.
Here's what I'll be watching for between now and Friday, when the company is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter results:

1) A buyout bid

Best Buy founder Richard Schulze has until Thursday to make a bid to buy the company and take it private. Will he pull a deal together or not? And, either way, what will it mean for the company's future?
Signs of a potential Schulze bid have been mixed lately. Some reports say a buyout is still possible, others say he's more likely to just expand his majority stake. And Reuters reported Tuesday that he hasn't been able to win enough backing for either.

2) More cuts

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) said the 400 jobs were an "initial cut," so I'll be listening for what's next. Will the company eliminate more positions? Will it close more stores?
Also, I've heard that the company may be scrapping — or at least altering — its long-heralded flexible work schedules, similar to what Yahoo just did. When I asked about it recently, spokeswoman Amy von Walter denied any changes, saying, "There are a number of policies, procedures and operations that are being reviewed as part of our transformation efforts, but we have not announced any changes" to the company's results-only work environment [ROWE].
Not yet, at least.
We know from a Star Tribune story earlier this month that new Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly isn't a big fan of ROWE, calling it “fundamentally flawed from a leadership standpoint.”

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