Barnes & Noble Education Earnings Miss Expectations, But Sales Beat

Barnes & Noble Education Inc. , a contract operator of bookstores for educational institutions, reported fourth quarter net income of $227,000, breaking even on earnings per share, after a loss of $2.8 million, or 6 cents per share, for the same period last year. The FactSet consensus was for 14 cents per share. Sales totaled $342.8 million, up from $294.8 million last year and ahead of the $311.0 million FactSet consensus. Same-store sales increased 1.4%. The FactSet consensus was for a 2.8% decline. The company completed the acquisition of MBS Textbook Exchange in February and says it will now report in two segments, one for Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, or BNC, and one for MBS. There are 712 MBS stores. The company sees flat fiscal-year 2018 BNC sales and expects same-store sales to decline in the low- to mid-single digit percentage point range. Consolidated sales are expected to be in the range of $2.25 billion to $2.35 billion before "intercompany eliminations." Barnes & Noble Education shares are unchanged in Wednesday premarket trading, and down 12.5% for the year so far. The S&P 500 index is up 8.3% for 2017 to date.