=Barnes & Noble (BKS) reported earnings on Tue 11/22/16 (b/o)

• Update August 2019: Barnes & Noble was acquired by Elliot Management.

Barnes & Noble beats by $0.10, reports revs in-line; reaffirms FY17 guidance :

• Reports Q2 (Oct) loss of $0.29 per share, $0.10 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.39); revenues fell 4.0% year/year to $858.5 mln vs the $850.72 mln Capital IQ Consensus.  
• Retail sales, which include Barnes & Noble stores and BN.com, declined 3.5% to $830.7 million for the quarter. Comparable store sales declined 3.2% on lower store traffic, which was partly offset by the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. NOOK sales, which include digital content, devices and accessories, declined 19.4% to $35.0 mln.
• Consolidated second quarter EBITDA was $0.7 million, a $21.2 million improvement versus the prior year. NOOK EBITDA losses of $2.7 million improved $18.5 million over the prior year on continued cost rationalization efforts. Retail EBITDA increased $2.7 million to $3.5 million, as lower severance charges offset the sales decrease.
• "While we are pleased to have improved our performance due to expense reductions, we did experience sluggish sales, which we believe are directly related to the election cycle," said Len Riggio, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. "With the election behind us, we hope and expect sales will improve over the holidays."
• The Company continues to expect fiscal 2017 comparable store sales to decline in the low single digits and full year consolidated EBITDA to be in a range of $200 million to $250 million. Retail EBITDA is expected to be in a range of $240 million to $280 million, excluding the impact of any charges related to its cost reduction initiatives and costs associated with the recent CEO departure. NOOK EBITDA losses are expected to decline to a range of $30 million to $40 million, including previously announced transitional costs.