Following yesterday’s after-marker news that the board of Barnes & Noble will explore “strategic alternatives,” the company’s shares are experiencing the anticipated heavy trading volume this morning, with volume of nearly 3 million shares in the first hour alone. At that point, the stock was up approximately 20 percent over yesterday’s close. After the board boosted the stock’s prospects, Goldman Sachs thoughtfully upgraded their rating from sell to neutral, and changed their 12-month price target from $12 a share to $15 a share. Analyst Matt Fassler still hates the company and they “do not see compelling value in the business,” […]
Bookstores
BN, Part Two: Who Would, Or Wouldn’t, Buy?
As noted in our first piece, the media and interwebs are full of all kinds of notions on what happens next with Barnes & Noble. To be clear, this piece is entirely speculation, but we do have our reasons. First let’s cross of some of the companies that won’t be bidding: AmazonA tech company and etailer that trades at a PE of over 50 would enrage investors and shed billions of dollars of market cap by picking up an outfit like Barnes & Noble. Plus it would give them undeniable sales tax nexus in all 50 states, producing what many […]
More Bookselling: Borders Layoffs and A Deal for Baker & Taylor
Reinforcing our point above about Borders, the chain has cut yet another 100 jobs from their LaVergne, TN distribution center (after eliminating 120 positions there earlier this year). Spokesperson Mary Davis tells the Nashville Business Journal, “We are in the process of reorganizing core areas of our business around key strategic objectives to transform the Borders brand. As part of this effort, we are making changes to our staffing levels to make sure the right people are in the right spots and positions and resources are aligned with our strategic objectives.” In brighter news, Baker & Taylor announced “an exclusive, […]
Barnes & Noble Board Agrees to Look at “Strategic Alternatives” As Market Decides the Company Is In Play
With its stock trading persistently low, Barnes & Noble’s board of directors has effectively given in to the pressure brought by activist shareholder Ron Burkle and larger market forces following their recent earnings disappointment in announcing that it “intends to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company, in order to increase stockholder value.” The board concluded that the company’s shares–battered in the past month in particular–“are now significantly undervalued.” The plain-English translation is that the company has agreed to put itself in play conceptually, and on Wall Street the line between concept and reality here is infinitesimally […]
From Barnes & Noble, Student-Focused Announcements
With colleges about to open for the fall semester, Barnes & Noble officially launched their online textbook rental business, competing with Chegg and others in this fast-growing sector. At the same time, they have added a free “study platform and software solution that gives college students the freedom and flexibility to access eTextbooks, other digital content and organizational tools to learn more efficiently, collaboratively and across content sources and formats.” It works on standard PCs and Mac computers. Called Nook Study, information about the app and downloads are available from http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookstudy/.Release
BN Adds Nook Boutiques, and Sues to Block More Patent Claims; Copia Promises Different Line of Unreleased Devices
Barnes & Noble is pressing the strategic advantage that they say their physical stores bring to sales of Nook and will roll-out 1,000-square-foot demonstration Nook boutiques across their stores, starting this summer. The NYT says the new boutiques will be adjacent to their in-store cafe’s. The company says they will take space away from their music departments to make room for the Nook nooks, and ceo William Lynch “said that the number of books on display in Barnes & Noble stores would not decrease.”Release Separately, Bloomberg reports that BN “filed two suits yesterday to try to fend off demands by […]