Barnes & Noble Education Inc BNED

Consumer DiscretionarySpecialty RetailersUnited States of America

Last close 12.73 USD on Nov 2, 2026, +40.3% year to date

Quant rating

Quant rating C Rank 205 of 344 in Consumer Discretionary

Growth D 268 of 344
Valuation B 59 of 344
Quality D 279 of 344
Revisions C 228 of 344
Momentum B 114 of 344

Wall Street consensus Buy (2.00)Average target 17.25 USD +35.5%

Historical valuation

Multiples use consensus estimates for the next twelve months. The dashed line is the 5-year average.

Key data

Market cap: 441M
Enterprise value: 557M
52-week range: 5.91 – 14.74
3-year range: 5.91 – 224.00
Dividend yield: 2.53%
Beta (5 years): 1.40
Shares outstanding: 34.7M
Next earnings: Jan 18, 2027

About the company

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. is a contract operator of physical and virtual bookstores for college and university campuses and K-12 institutions across the United States. The Company is a provider of textbook wholesalers, and inventory management hardware and software. It operates approximately 1,120 physical and virtual bookstores, delivering educational content and general merchandise within an omnichannel retail environment. It offers its First Day affordable access course material programs, consisting of First Day Complete and First Day, which provide faculty-required course materials to students on or before the first day of class. The First Day Complete program is an institution and includes all the undergraduate classes and, on occasion, graduate classes, providing students with both physical and digital materials. Its solutions include academic solutions, college retail solutions, college insights and wholesale & store technology services.

Growth and profitability fiscal year ends April 30

Growth and profitability by fiscal year
	2026	2025	2024	2023	2022	5Y avg
Revenue (mil)	1,715	1,610	1,567	1,543	1,496	–
Revenue growth	6.5%	2.7%	1.6%	3.2%	6.3%	4.0%
EPS (basic, normalized)	0.49	−2.50	−23.75	−172.00	−133.00	–
EPS growth	–	–	–	–	–	–
Gross margin	21.4%	21.0%	22.8%	22.6%	22.9%	22.1%
Net margin	1.0%	−4.1%	−4.0%	−5.8%	−4.1%	−3.4%
ROE	6.0%	−38.4%	−62.1%	−50.2%	−23.6%	−33.7%

Balance sheet, last quarter
Cash & short-term investments (mil)	7.8
Current ratio	1.66x
Long-term debt (mil)	124
Net debt (mil)	116
Total equity (mil)	278
Net debt / equity	0.42x
Net debt / EBITDA	–

Estimates and valuation

Consensus estimates and implied multiples
	Sales (mil)			EBITDA (mil)			EPS
Fiscal year	Mean est.	Growth	EV/Sales	Mean est.	Growth	EV/EBITDA	Mean est.	Growth	P/E
2026 actual	1,715	+6.5%	0.3x	–	–	–	0.49	+119.6%	26.0x
2027	1,771	+3.3%	0.3x	89.3	–	6.2x	0.89	+80.6%	14.4x
2028	358	−79.8%	1.6x	–	–	–	0.36	−59.3%	35.4x
2029	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.20	−43.6%	62.7x

Estimate revisions

Change in consensus estimates over 1, 3 and 6 months
	Sales				EPS
Fiscal year	Estimate (mil)	1M	3M	6M	Estimate	1M	3M	6M
2027	1,771	−1.0%	−1.7%	–	0.89	0.0%	+14.2%	–
2028	358	–	–	–	0.36	–	–	–
2029	–	–	–	–	0.20	–	–	–

Earnings surprises EPS beat in 1 of the last 4 quarters

Reported results versus consensus, last 10 fiscal quarters
Quarter ended	Apr 2024	Jul 2024	Oct 2024	Jan 2025	Apr 2025	FQ-4	FQ-3	FQ-2	Apr 2026	Jul 2026
Sales reported (mil)	236	263	602	466	278	–	–	–	267	291
Sales mean (mil)	254	268	623	468	245	288	644	515	267	307
Surprise	−7.0%	−1.8%	−3.3%	−0.4%	+13.8%	–	–	–	−0.1%	−5.2%
EPS reported	−10.24	−7.36	1.87	0.23	−0.69	–	–	–	0.10	−0.37
EPS mean	−38.00	−81.00	60.00	0.12	−0.81	−0.54	0.72	0.19	−0.16	−0.51
Surprise	+73.1%	+90.9%	−96.9%	+91.7%	+14.8%	–	–	–	−162.8%	+26.7%

Peer comparison Specialty Retailers

Peers in the same industry group, by market capitalization
Company	Market cap	Net debt/EBITDA	Net margin	P/B	FY1 P/E	FY2 P/E	FY1 EV/EBITDA	FY2 EV/EBITDA
BNED Barnes & Noble Education Inc	441M	–	1.0%	1.59x	14.4x	35.4x	6.2x	–
DKS DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc.	12.6B	0.50x	4.9%	2.21x	12.4x	10.9x	6.4x	5.8x
DUFRY Avolta AG	8.2B	–	1.4%	4.08x	14.5x	12.6x	8.5x	7.7x
SIG Signet Jewelers Limited	4.6B	−0.77x	4.3%	2.53x	10.3x	8.8x	5.4x	5.0x
ASO Academy Sports and Outdoors, Inc.	3.8B	0.29x	6.2%	1.76x	9.2x	8.7x	5.6x	5.5x
WRBY Warby Parker Inc.	2.9B	−3.07x	0.2%	7.51x	51.7x	38.1x	22.5x	17.5x
Mean		−0.76x	3.0%	3.28x	18.7x	19.1x	9.1x	8.3x
Median		−0.24x	2.9%	2.37x	13.4x	11.8x	6.3x	5.8x

Technical analysis

1M+9.4%
3M+3.0%
1Y+41.2%
3Y−87.6%

Financial statements in millions of USD

Income statement in millions of USD, fiscal years

Income statement, Barnes & Noble Education Inc, fiscal years, most recent first
	2026	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
Total revenue	1,715	1,610	1,567	1,543	1,496	1,407
Cost of revenue	1,349	1,272	1,210	1,194	1,153	1,176
Gross profit	366	338	357	349	343	230
Selling, general & administrative expenses	289	284	312	358	354	316
Research & development	–	–	–	–	–	–
Depreciation/amortization	32.8	37.9	40.6	42.2	42.1	45.2
Interest expense (income), operating	–	–	–	–	–	–
Unusual expense (income)	8.3	55.4	26.6	16.1	7.4	37.7
Other operating expenses	0	0	0	0	0	0
Operating income	36.5	−39.3	−21.9	−66.4	−60.6	−169
Net interest income (expense)	−15.9	−22.3	−40.4	−22.7	−10.1	−8.1
Gain (loss) on sale of assets	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other non-operating income (expense)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Net income before taxes	20.7	−61.6	−62.3	−89.1	−70.7	−177
Provision for taxes	3.8	4.3	0.2	1.0	−9.2	−43.3
Minority interest	–	–	–	–	–	–
Equity in affiliates	–	–	–	–	–	–
U.S. GAAP adjustment	–	–	–	–	–	–
Net income before extraordinary items	16.9	−65.8	−62.5	−90.1	−61.6	−134
Extraordinary items	–	0	−0.7	−11.7	−7.3	−6.2
Net income	16.9	−65.8	−63.2	−102	−68.9	−140
EBIT, normalized	44.8	16.1	4.6	−50.3	−52.8	−116
EBITDA, normalized	77.6	54.0	45.2	−8.1	−10.3	−70.1
Basic EPS, normalized	0.49	−2.50	−23.75	−172.00	−133.00	–

Balance sheet in millions of USD, fiscal years

Balance sheet, Barnes & Noble Education Inc, fiscal years, most recent first
	2026	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
Assets
Cash & short-term investments	8.4	9.1	10.5	14.2	8.8	8.0
Receivables	117	98.1	104	92.5	136	121
Total inventory	325	326	377	353	323	310
Prepaid expenses	16.7	14.9	22.0	33.7	49.2	54.0
Other current assets	17.4	17.3	17.1	43.2	14.2	7.9
Total current assets	484	465	531	537	532	501
Property, plant & equipment	180	224	255	315	360	330
Goodwill	–	–	–	–	–	4.7
Intangibles	58.1	78.2	94.2	111	127	151
Long-term investments	–	–	–	–	–	–
Note receivable	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other long-term assets	17.6	22.7	24.7	18.0	52.7	45.0
Total assets	740	790	905	981	1,072	1,031
Liabilities
Accounts payable	136	149	299	268	183	138
Payable/accrued	–	–	–	–	–	–
Accrued expenses	138	120	168	175	174	173
Short-term debt	0	0	0	0	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	–	–	–	0	40.0	50.0
Other current liabilities	10.4	10.4	11.3	19.6	18.9	13.5
Total current liabilities	284	279	479	462	415	374
Long-term debt	71.0	103	196	182	186	128
Minority interest	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other liabilities	90.9	136	159	206	242	237
Total liabilities	445	518	835	850	843	738
Shareholders' equity
Preferred stock	–	–	–	–	–	–
Common stock	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.6	0.5	0.5
Additional paid-in capital	1,012	1,007	749	746	741	734
Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)	−696	−713	−657	−593	−491	−423
Treasury stock	−22.6	−22.6	−22.6	−22.4	−21.5	−19.1
Other equity	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total equity	294	272	70.6	131	228	293
Total liabilities & shareholders' equity	740	790	905	981	1,072	1,031

Cash flow statement in millions of USD, fiscal years

Cash flow statement, Barnes & Noble Education Inc, fiscal years, most recent first
	2026	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021
Operating activities
Net income	16.9	−65.8	−63.2	−102	−68.9	−140
Depreciation, depletion & amortization	32.8	37.9	40.6	42.2	42.5	45.9
Deferred taxes	−1.1	−0.8	−0.6	0.4	−17.8	−7.8
Non-cash items	22.5	67.5	23.5	26.7	38.7	60.5
Changes in working capital	−20.9	−124	−5.4	124	6.6	74.1
Cash from operations	50.1	−85.4	−5.1	91.7	1.2	32.9
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	−16.2	−12.9	−14.1	−25.1	−33.6	−27.6
Other investing cash flows	0	0.8	21.5	−6.0	−9.1	−9.3
Cash from investing	−16.2	−12.1	7.4	−31.0	−42.7	−36.9
Financing activities
Financing cash flow items	−1.9	36.5	−16.3	−7.3	−0.3	−1.1
Cash dividends paid	–	–	–	–	–	–
Issuance (retirement) of debt, net	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other financing cash flows	−32.5	61.2	10.6	−42.4	46.0	12.9
Cash from financing	−34.4	97.7	−5.7	−49.7	45.7	11.8
Foreign exchange effects	–	–	–	–	–	–
Net change in cash	−0.5	0.2	−3.4	11.0	4.2	7.8
Free cash flow	33.9	−98.3	−19.2	66.6	−32.4	5.3

Disclaimer

The financial data presented in this report is delayed and obtained from sources QDD Research believes to be reliable, including stock exchanges, SEDAR, and EDGAR. However, no representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information. QDD Research accepts no liability for any errors, omissions, or financial losses arising from the use of this data.

This report is generated using a fully systematic and quantitative approach. All factor scores and the overall quant rating (ranging from D to A+) are derived from algorithmic models and are based solely on objective financial metrics. These scores are intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any securities.

QDD Research is not a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer and does not provide personalized financial advice. The content is not tailored to the specific investment goals, financial situation, or risk profile of any individual investor. We strongly encourage readers to consult with a licensed broker or investment advisor before making any investment decisions based on the information contained in this report.

Live quote provided by TradingView. Report data updated Nov 2, 2026 after market close.