Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS)

slipknot61 (36.30) Submitted: 4/5/2007 4:11:59 PM : Start Price: $34.64 BKS Score: +46.81

Bookstores are on their way out like typewriters in the 70's. The younger generation reads ebooks which little production cost. Everything is going paperless.

RunningFast (92.97) Submitted: 4/3/2007 8:10:16 PM : Start Price: $33.85 BKS Score: +46.29

Off-line media retail will continue to suffer as more and more sales goes on-line.

AGraziano (62.86) Submitted: 3/17/2007 7:55:40 AM : Start Price: $31.69 BKS Score: -45.91

I have a long shot feeling this stock will be bought out by private equity.

mesomatt (< 20) Submitted: 2/22/2007 8:52:10 PM : Start Price: $36.24 BKS Score: -48.67

people buy books and thats that... they also have the best variety of books at competitive prices

BasketQase (86.23) Submitted: 2/8/2007 3:00:30 PM : Start Price: $34.90 BKS Score: -47.33

I shop at Barnes

NetscribeRetail (95.38) Submitted: 1/3/2007 12:39:22 AM : Start Price: $33.98 BKS Score: +47.86

Barnes and Nobles Inc is a specialty retailer of books along with music and movies. It operates two different store formats, namely the Barnes and Nobles books store, which is 681 in number and B.Dalton bookseller, which are 118 in number. The company also operates an e-commerce platform, which serves the twin purpose of online sales and a strong advertising medium. The company faces intense competition from pure players like Borders group, mass marketers like Wal-Mart, E-commerce platforms like Amazon but factors like proximity to customers, customization of each store to suit community needs, developing the store ambiance as a viable public meeting space and discount pricing makes sure that the company leads the competition with 17% market share.

Barnes and Nobles bookstore, through strong comparable store sales and opening of new stores, contribute the major part of revenue. The share of Internet sales also has been increasing over the years but that of B.Dalton stores have been decreasing leading to its phased closure. On the expense front, the company was able to make some savings because of some efficient distribution practices, shift in vendors and leverage of fixed occupancy rates.

The coming year is considered to be sluggish with no major release scheduled. This will affect the growth of all book retailers, as margins will come under pressure. Barnes and Nobles is expected to step up its promotional activity in the face of stiff competition, which again will put pressure on its bottom-line. Moreover, customer loyalty program launched by one of its biggest competitors, Border’s group is also expected to give strong competition to Barnes and Nobles. In the face of such adverse conditions the stock price is expected to go down.

NoVaAmPro (96.93) Submitted: 11/24/2006 11:17:49 AM : Start Price: $33.68 BKS Score: -48.88

I admit some bias--I love B&N, but then I can't be the only one, as crowded as they get. Launch of new B&N MasterCard should drive up sales to impulse buyers, and people love to pick up a book and sip a Starbucks mocha; most of the time people purchase at least one of the books or mags they take into the cafe.

EmpireLegacy (63.77) Submitted: 11/6/2006 4:28:40 PM : Start Price: $35.67 BKS Score: -53.14

Leave a legacy not debt.