Barnes & Noble Buried in a Book: Fool by Numbers

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On Nov. 16, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) released third-quarter earnings for the period ended Oct. 28.

• The revenue increased by 2.8% to $1.1 billion, thanks to a 4% increase in Barnes & Noble store sales. B. Dalton stores, on the other hand, had a 28% decrease in sales, due to store closures.
• The EPS dropped to a loss of $0.04, burdened by a $0.03 stock compensation expense.
• During the third quarter, 11 Barnes & Noble stores were opened and six were closed. Three B. Dalton stores were closed during the quarter.
• In Motley Fool CAPS, 33 of the 40 community members who have rated Barnes & Noble believe the company will perform well.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Sales	$1,112.0	$1,081.8	2.8%
Net Profit	($2.8)	$0.3	N/A
EPS	($0.04)	$0.00	N/A
Diluted Shares	64.9	71.3	(8.9%)

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	29.77%	29.58%	0.19
Operating Margin	(0.50%)	(0.03%)	(0.53)
Net Margin	(0.25%)	0.03%	(0.28)

*Expressed in percentage points

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$19.9	$23.0	(13.7%)
Accounts Rec.	$129.1	$115.8	11.4%
Inventory	$1,639.0	$1,563.5	4.8%

Liabilities	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	$1,016.6	$1,009.0	0.7%
Long-Term Debt	$34.1	$62.0	(45%)

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Barnes and Noble must be buried in a book, because it forgot to include a cash flow statement in its press release.

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

• Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN)
• Books-A-Million (Nasdaq: BAMM)
• Borders (NYSE: BGP)

Related Foolishness:

• B&N Asks: Where Are You, Harry Potter?
• Wall Street Throws the Book at Barnes & Noble
• Why Did the Borders Cross the Street?

Amazon.com is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation. Take the newsletter dedicated to the very best of David and Tom Gardner's selections for a free 30-day spin.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.