Today Goldman analysts downgraded B&N stock from Neutral to Sell and cut the stock price target from $15 to $13, saying that “following management’s recent proxy victory we believe a transaction is less likely.” Yesterday, however, Channel Trend Inc. went the other way, upgrading company stock from Unfavorable to Neutral. The share price dropped to $15.87 and is currently down in pre-market trading.Street Insider
Awards and Announcements: More Nobel Speculation; 5 Under 35; Giller Prize Shortlist; And More
With two more days until the Nobel Prize for Literature’s announcement, Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o has emerged as the front-runner, with Ladbrokes noting odds have been slashed from 75-1 to 11/4. Cormac McCarthy is the 2nd favorite at 3-1.Guardian The National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” list for this year includes: Sarah Braunstein, The Sweet Relief of Missing Children (W.W. Norton & Co., 2011)Grace Krilanovich, The Orange Eats Creeps (Two Dollar Radio, 2010) Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife (Random House, 2011) Tiphanie Yanique, How to Escape from a Leper Colony (Graywolf, 2010) Paul Yoon, Once the Shore (Sarabande, 2009) […]
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Daniel Clancy, who has served as Engineering Director for Google Books since 2005, is moving to a new leadership role with responsibility for engineering at YouTube (also owned by Google). In the coming months, he will continue to be involved in key technology and business issues with respect to legal matters, existing partnership interactions and overall strategy for Google Books. Engineering director James Crawford will continue to oversee engineering for Google Editions, the Google Books Library Project and the Google Books Partner Program. Author and former editor Jason Pinter will join the Waxman Literary Agency as an agent on August […]
Odyssey Editions Fallout: Random House Puts Business Dealings with Wylie Agency On Hold, Macmillan CEO “Appalled”, and More
The fallout over Andrew Wylie’s entry into the e-book business with the help of an exclusive deal with Amazon continues, with publishers and independent booksellers expressing their displeasure – and in one Big Six house’s instance, some forceful action. In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Random House has indicated that The Wylie Agency’s decision to sell e-books exclusively to Amazon through its new Odyssey Books company “undermines [Random House’s] longstanding commitments to and investments in our authors, and it establishes this Agency as our direct competitor.” As a result, “Random House on a worldwide basis will not be entering into […]
Amazon Earnings Fall Short and Market Hits Shares
Amazon reported second quarter sales after the close of the market yesterday of $6.54 billion, up 41% from a year ago and on target with expectations of $6.5 billion. But net income of $207 million, or 45 cents a share, was well short of analysts’ expectations and below the low end of the company’s own guidance. The consensus expectation was for 54 cents a share, and that’s after Amazon warned of lower earnings in April when they reported first quarter sales. Wall Street had anticipated earnings of $322 million before the April reset; and Amazon told investors to look for […]
McGraw-Hill Reports Higher Q2 Profits, But Keeps Outlook Cautious
McGraw Hill reported second quarter earnings of $191.1 million; or 61 cents a share, a 16 percent (or $27 million) jump compared with $164.1 million, or 52 cents a share last year — in line with Wall Street expectations of 61 cents per share. Revenue was up 0.6 percent to $1.5 billion. Revenue for the education side increased by 1.8 percent to $565 million, helped by foreign exchange rates that added $3.3 million in revenue and $2.3 million in operating profits. School Education Group revenue declined 4.0%, or $13.7 million, to $324.9 million, affected by a delay in shipping a […]