Stocks · Consumer Cyclical · Specialty Retail
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. BNED
$11.54 -1.45% Close, Oct 5, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $405.7M
Inexpensive vs sectorHigh risk
Next earnings report: Dec 22, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Net debt is 3.9× EBITDA, a high level of leverage.
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 93 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $1.72B, up 5.0% from a year earlier.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Cyclical sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 6, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 45%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 48%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 43%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 25%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 44%
- Gross marginBottom 22%
- Operating marginBottom 30%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 25%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 44%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 36%
- Interest coverBottom 46%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 38%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 19%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 30%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 6%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 22%
- 6-month returnTop 26%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 25%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 38%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 21%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 5%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 38%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 22%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 29%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 47%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 1%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 4%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 36%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 6.5% | 5.0% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 20.6% | 21.0% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 4.6% | 2.9% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | -1.4% | 2.8% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 5.0% | 6.5% | ↓ | Top 45% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 0.0% | — | Bottom 48% | |
| Gross margin | 21.0% | 20.6% | ↑ | Bottom 22% |
| Operating margin | 2.9% | 4.6% | ↓ | Bottom 30% |
| Net margin | 1.3% | 0.5% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 2.8% | -1.4% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 7.2% | — | Top 44% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 3.6% | — | Top 43% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 2.91×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -5.0%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.2%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +4.0 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 3.87×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 3.5×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.68%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- -0.00%
- Shareholder yield
- 0.68%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +1.4%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +17.9%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Aug 1, 2026 (filed Sep 8, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 3
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 5 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- -100.0%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -1.2%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $17.25
- Target vs current price
- +49.5%
- Analysts with a rating
- 3
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 33%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 8, 2026 | +22.9% | -3.7% | -13.6% | -9.3% | — |
| Jul 9, 2026 | +78.6% | -2.0% | +9.1% | +8.8% | +0.3% |
| Mar 10, 2026 | — | -1.5% | +5.7% | +13.9% | +21.1% |
| Jan 20, 2026 | +42.0% | -0.5% | +2.2% | -11.8% | +16.3% |
| Nov 4, 2025 | -550.0% | -2.1% | -9.5% | +0.8% | +0.9% |
| Jul 28, 2025 | -666.7% | +0.5% | -9.3% | -6.2% | +2.7% |
| Mar 10, 2025 | +91.7% | -9.6% | +3.8% | -8.3% | +26.3% |
| Dec 9, 2024 | -96.8% | +9.6% | +26.5% | -2.6% | -9.1% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 8, 2026 | -$0.37 | -$0.48 | +22.9% | $290.6M |
| Jul 9, 2026 | $0.13 | $0.07 | +78.6% | $267.1M |
| Mar 10, 2026 | $0.23 | — | — | $515.1M |
| Jan 20, 2026 | -$0.47 | -$0.81 | +42.0% | $644.4M |
| Nov 4, 2025 | -$0.54 | $0.12 | -550.0% | $288.2M |
| Jul 28, 2025 | -$0.68 | $0.12 | -666.7% | $278.3M |
| Mar 10, 2025 | $0.23 | $0.12 | +91.7% | $466.3M |
| Dec 9, 2024 | $1.91 | $60.00 | -96.8% | $602.1M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 18.0× | — | — | Top 38% |
| P/E (forward) | 12.1× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 9.8× | — | — | Top 30% |
| EV / Sales | 0.39× | — | — | Top 6% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 12.03% | — | — | Top 19% |
| Earnings yield | 5.55% | — | — | Top 38% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 13.6× – 33.6× since Jan 27, 2024. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 93
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -3.9%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +2.7%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -3.0%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +11.5%
- RSI (14)
- 51.1
- Relative volume
- 0.55×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 43.3%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 2th percentile · Low for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 2.24
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.45
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -16.0%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -97.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 2021 | Jul 1, 2024 | -99.5% | 684 days | Not yet recovered |
| Mar 19, 2021 | May 13, 2021 | -30.1% | 38 days | 17 days (Jun 8, 2021) |
| Jun 16, 2021 | Aug 17, 2021 | -29.1% | 43 days | 14 days (Sep 7, 2021) |
| Oct 2, 2020 | Oct 28, 2020 | -22.7% | 18 days | 9 days (Nov 10, 2020) |
| Feb 11, 2021 | Feb 25, 2021 | -18.3% | 9 days | 9 days (Mar 10, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $405.7M
- P/E (TTM)
- 18.0
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $0.64
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.72B
- Dividend yield
- 1.39%
- 52-week range
- $5.90 – $14.75
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.50B | $1.54B | $1.57B | $1.61B | $1.71B |
| Gross profit | $342.8M | $349.4M | $344.9M | $337.8M | $366.2M |
| Operating income | -$60.6M | -$66.4M | -$33.8M | $15.9M | $43.8M |
| Net income | -$68.9M | -$101.9M | -$75.7M | -$65.8M | $16.9M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$28.99 | -$42.28 | -$23.47 | -$2.50 | $0.49 |
| Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | Q4 2026 | Q1 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $602.1M | $466.3M | $278.3M | $288.2M | $644.4M | $515.1M | $267.1M | $290.6M |
| Net income | $43.2M | $7.1M | -$23.2M | -$18.3M | $25.0M | $6.7M | $3.5M | -$12.9M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.63 | $0.23 | -$0.68 | -$0.54 | $0.72 | $0.19 | $0.10 | -$0.37 |
| FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $1.2M | $91.7M | -$5.1M | -$85.4M | $50.1M |
| Capital expenditure | -$33.6M | -$25.1M | -$14.1M | -$12.9M | -$16.2M |
| Free cash flow | -$32.4M | $66.6M | -$19.2M | -$98.3M | $33.9M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | -$2.4M | -$864,000 | -$176,000 | $173.4M | $0 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $7.8M
- Total assets
- $846.7M
- Total liabilities
- $568.4M
- Total debt
- $273.2M
- Net debt
- $265.4M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $278.4M
As of Aug 1, 2026 (filed Sep 8, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 14, 2026 | $0.08 | Oct 29, 2026 |
| Jul 16, 2026 | $0.08 | Jul 30, 2026 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 1,598,649
- Days to cover
- 4.40
- Change vs previous report
- +9.2%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Jun 12, 2024
- 1-for-100