Amazon reported second quarter sales on Thursday after, with sales rising 25 percent to $38 billion, as earnings were in line with the wide-ranging guidance but towards the lower side where analysts had been hopeful for hitting the end. That translates into operating income of $628 million — down 51 percent — and net income of $197 million, down significantly from $857 million a year ago. Profits are expected to remain low in the quarter to come, with the company forecasting anywhere from a loss of ($400 million) to a gain of $300 million, with the stock down lightly after […]
Booksellers
Activist Investor Is Sure Someone (Else) Should Take Barnes & Noble Private
Another activist investor, Sandell Capital Management, has looked at Barnes & Noble’s beaten down share price and become convinced that with some agitation a private buyer will come forward. The campaign is happening via press release, with Sandell publishing its letter to the BN board asking the company to hire an investment banker to go find someone willing to take the bookseller private. They are convinced a private buyer would like to pay $12 a share or more (or about $900 million), after BKS shares dipped below $7 a share during yesterday’s trading. The immediate effect is that the stock […]
BN Education Up Modestly In Fourth Quarter
Barnes & Noble Education reported fiscal fourth quarter sales (through April), with new store openings and the MBS Textbook Exchange acquisition lifting sales modestly. Stores sales of $314 million were up $19 million with new stores and a 1.4 percent increase in same-store sales, and MBS added another $34 million in the quarter. They had consolidated net income of just $200,000. The decent finish still left same-store sales down 3 percent for the full fiscal year. Including the small contribution from MBS, sales of $1.874 billion were up $66 million, with consolidated net income of $5.4 million. The company opened 38 […]
Sales Continue Falling at Barnes & Noble, But Earnings Improve
Barnes & Noble continued to suffer from declining sales in their fourth quarter, ending April 29, but a reduced loss in the period and improved earnings for the fiscal year gave investors some confidence. After closing Wednesday near an all-time low of $6.50 a share, investors were relieved by the improvement in profits and stabilization at the company, sending the stock back up by roughly 7 percent in the first hour of trading, returning to around $7 a share. Sales for the quarter were $821 million, down 6.3 percent both overall and on a same-store basis. Online sales nudged up […]
Indigo Records Their First Billion-Dollar Year
Canadian retailer Indigo reported results for their fiscal fourth quarter, ending April 1, with full-year sales passing $1 billion (CA) for the first time: Total sales for the year were $1.02 billion, up $25.6 million or 2.6 percent from a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA was $52.2 million, up from $43.1 million a year ago, though net earnings of $20.9 million were down from $28.6 million due to tax factors. Fourth quarter sales were $209.5 million — compared to $220.4 million a year ago, but that was a 14-week quarter. The company said comparable sales for the quarter were up 0.8 percent. Notably, […]
Amazon Gains In First Quarter, Changes Revenue Reporting Lines
Amazon reported first quarter sales on Thursday afternoon, with net revenues rising 23 percent to $35.7 billion in the first quarter, compared with $29.1 billion in 2016. Operating income was down modestly at $1.05 billion, but net income rose to $724 million — compared to $513 million a year ago, because of lower income taxes. As usual, AWS (Amazon Web Services) on its own generated most of the operating income, at $890 million. The big news is that the company recategorized some of their revenue breakouts. Unfortunately, they no longer quantify the slower-growing media categories that included books, ebooks, and digital audio. Indicative of the […]