Barnes and Noble Reports Disappointing Holiday Sales
Barnes & Noble, Inc. cut
its earning forecast today, citing less than anticipated holiday sales. The company reduced third quarter earning guidance to between $1.20 - $1.40 per share.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The company's previous third-quarter earnings guidance was in a range of $1.30 to $1.50 per share.
The book retailer said total holiday store sales for the nine-week period from Nov. 1, 2009 to Jan. 2, 2010. fell 5% to $1.1 billion. Same-store sales, that is, sales at stores open at least one year, declined 5.4%
Online sales through Barnes & Noble.com increased 17% for the holiday selling season and totaled $134 million. Barnes & Noble.com sales include revenue from the new Nook electronic-book reading device from when the product began shipping after Thanksgiving.
Holiday sales were down across the retail spectrum, but Barnes and Noble also suffered from quite a bit of bad PR because of the Nook e-reader fiasco.
