Best Buy finally has an idea that Wall Street likes.
The struggling electronics chain — whose shares have taken a beating during the past year amid fruitless buyout talks with the company’s founder — boosted its stock with a deal to open a slew of Samsung shops inside its stores.
Best Buy shares hit a 52-week high yesterday on the move, which analysts said looks like a promising strategy to lure back shoppers and reverse a three-year sales slide at the Minneapolis-based retailer.
Best Buy shares surged $3.48, or 16.1 percent, to close at $25.13.
Samsung plans to open shops inside more than 1,400 Best Buy stores by June. Branded the “Samsung Experience,” the in-store shops will sell a full line of goods, from the company’s popular Galaxy smartphone to tablets, laptops and TVs.
Insiders said Best Buy has been plotting the strategy since last fall, when incoming CEO Hubert Joly joined the retailer amid negotiations for a buyout by founder Richard Schulze.
The going-private deal, which could have been worth as much as $8.5 billion, flopped as Schulze jockeyed with private-equity firms to lead the process, sources said.
Samsung will staff some of the new in-store shops with specially trained employees in a concept similar to the “Genius Bar” at Apple stores.
Best Buy may announce similar deals with other vendors later this year, sources said, including Microsoft, Google and Sony.
“Retailers and vendors are learning how to better cope with online and pricing challenges to become more profitable omnichannel retailers,” said JPMorgan analyst Christopher Horvers.
He said the Samsung deal should boost Best Buy’s position versus Amazon, which has been selling electronics at lower prices to customers who first check them out at Best Buy stores — a phenomenon known as “showrooming.”
jcovert@nypost.com