Unfortunately Barnes & Noble continues to underperform the book business as a whole, disclosing holiday sales in contrast to the industry trend. Sales for the nine weeks ending December 30 were $953 million, down 6.4 percent compared to the prior year, and down the same percentage on a same-store business. Book sales on their own were down 4.5 percent, consistent with the company’s report at the end of November that their non-book product was performing poorly and being curtailed. For the holiday period, “declines in the gift, music and DVD categories accounted for nearly half of the comparable store sales decrease.” […]
Earnings Reports
Scholastic Slides On Potter Comp
Scholastic reported fiscal second quarter results on Thursday morning, with sales of $598 million down $25 million (or 4 percent) from a year ago. Operating profit from continuing operations was $107 million, down $5 million, and net income fell further, at $57.1 million, compared to $67.9 million a year ago. Results were below analysts’ expectation. Trade publishing sales were $80.9 million, down $17.6 million from a year ago — when the company benefited from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay. Nonetheless, Scholastic said trade sales had “exceeded expectations with exceptionally strong performance […]
Wiley Gains on Better Than Expected Results
Wiley reported higher sales and better earnings than analysts were expecting for their fiscal second quarter and the stock gained almost five percent in trading on the news Thursday, coming close to the all-time high from early 2015. Sales were up 6 percent to $452 million, and adjusted net income of $59.3 million was up from $5.1 million a year ago. In a break with recent trends, STM publishing of $71.5 million was up $3.5 million, and education publishing of $57.7 million was just above flat. That included 5 percent growth in digital and “lower than expected declines in print.” At the same […]
Barnes Education Grows Profits On Still-Weak Sales
Barnes & Noble Education has performed so poorly that an uptick in profits for their fiscal second quarter — even as college bookstore and textbook sales comps fell — has lifted the stock. With net income for the back-to-school quarter of $48.4 million, compared to $29.3 million, the stock rose almost 25 percent in early trading on Tuesday. Even with that, shares are still down by about a third for the year, and after spending $58.5 million for Student Brands and $174 million for MBS Textbook Exchange during the year, the improved market cap is still only about $365 million. […]
Barnes & Noble’s Sales Decline Below Expectations Once More
Barnes & Noble reported earnings for their fiscal second quarter ending October 28, once again reporting mediocre results: Sales and store comps declined, and the loss grew, with both sales and earnings missing analysts’ modest expectations. Shares fell approximately 10 percent in the first hour of trading, back to about $7 a share, on the disappointing results. But there is a glimmer of encouragement. After years of touting everything but books (digital devices, educational toys & games, vinyl records, maker fairs, collectibles, etc.), with limited effect, Barnes & Noble has decided to be a bookseller: In the new release, ceo […]
Small Gains for Harper
News Corp. reported fiscal first quarter results through the end of September, with sales at HarperCollins rebounding by 3 percent, to $401 million. While ahead of last year’s $389 million, it’s still behind their $409 million in fiscal 2016 and $406 million in fiscal 2015. EBITDA rose by $2 million, to $50 million in the quarter. The gains were “primarily due to the continued popularity of Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson.” Digital sales grew 6 percent, driven “by growth in downloadable audio sales.” Report