Investment groups associated with hedge fund manager Richard Schottenfeld acquired holdings in Barnes & Noble sufficiently as of July 12 to file with the SEC, indicating control of more than 5 percent of the company’s stock. In this case they control 4.16 million shares, or 5.68 percent of the bookseller’s shares, and according to the filing they are holding a number of options, hoping for a boost in the share price. Schottenfeld has invested in Barnes & Noble before; back in late 2012 he claimed to have a “significant ownership interest” in the company (but not big enough to declare to […]
Booksellers
BNED, However, Ends The Year On A Positive Track
Separately, Barnes & Noble Education reported fourth quarter and full fiscal year sales after the close of the market on Wednesday. Fourth quarter sales of $358 million were up 4.3 percent, and full year sales of $2,204 million were 17.6 percent higher — both due to the acquisitions of MBS in February 2017 and Student Brands in August 2017. Net income in the fourth quarter was $17.1 million, but the full-year net loss was $(253) million due to the big impairment charge they took in March. Adjusted EBITDA of $22.2 million, was $3.4 million in the fourth quarter; full year 2018 […]
Print Sales Slid at Indigo, Driven By Merchandise Growth
Following last week’s headline results from Canadian retailer Indigo, their full annual report is out, and you can see in more detail how general merchandise sales are driving the chain’s growth. Actual print sales declined $5 million (CA) during the year, falling less than one percent to $593 million, while ereading revenues were down another $2.4 million, to just $10.1 million. General merchandise added $65 million, growing to $449 million. Print now comprises 55 percent of company sales (down from 58.6 percent), and general merchandise is up to 41.6 percent of sales. The growth was distributed between their superstores — […]
Amazon Gains On Strong Earnings
Amazon reported sales for the first quarter on Thursday afternoon, as net income more than doubled, to $1.63 billion, well ahead of analysts’ expectations. The stock is trading near all-time highs on the strong report. Sales of $51 billion were well ahead of the $35.7 billion in the same quarter a year ago. That was bolstered by $4.3 billion from physical stores — primarily the added Whole Foods. The results show fast growth in nearly every segment — their advertising business (+139%), subscription services (+60%), AWS (+49%), and third-party seller services (+44%). The lowest growth was in the basic business […]
Bezos Reveals Amazon Stats — On Prime Members, and Big Kindle Earners
Amazon ceo Jeff Bezos released his annual shareholder letter on Wednesday, revealing for the first time that has more than 100 million paid Prime members globally. In another, less widely-reported statistic, Bezos wrote that over 1,000 Kindle Direct Publishing authors earned over $100,000 in royalties in 2017 (thus comprising over $100 million). Beyond that, third-party sellers accounted for more than half of the units sold on Amazon worldwide for the first time — and over 140,000 small and medium-sized businesses (thus comprising over $14 billion). Among other things, in reviewing the pipeline for television series on the way through Prime […]
Barnes & Noble Plans 5 More New Stores, Takes Big Charge After Poor Holiday
“Even when an organization is working with a sense of urgency…turnarounds take time,” Barnes & Noble ceo Demos Parneros told investors on this morning’s third quarter conference call, after reporting a poor holiday quarter (in line with their previous warning), layoffs, and a big non-cash charge. His job on the call was to assure investors that management has a clear plan for long-term improvement: “We expect our plan to provide steady and consistent improvement beginning in fiscal 2019 and beyond.” Parneros revealed that BN “will open five new prototype stores” in the coming year in a smaller “right-size format,” with […]