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Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. had return on equity of 6.0% and a net margin of 1.0%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2014May 20142015May 20152016Apr 20162017Apr 20172018Apr 20182019Apr 20192020May 20202021May 20212022Apr 20222023Apr 20232024Apr 20242025May 20252026May 2026LTMAug 2026
Net margin2.0%1.1%0.0%0.3%−11.5%−1.2%−2.1%−9.9%−4.6%−6.6%−4.8%−4.1%1.0%1.3%
Return on equity4.7%2.6%0.0%0.8%−42.7%−5.3%−8.8%−39.3%−26.4%−53.4%−64.9%−37.3%6.0%7.8%
Return on assets—1.8%0.0%0.5%−21.6%−2.5%−3.6%−12.8%−6.5%−9.9%−8.0%−7.7%2.2%2.8%
Effective tax rate39.4%42.6%96.9%46.9%————————18.4%19.5%
SG&A as % of revenue18.9%20.3%20.7%20.3%19.7%20.8%21.9%22.5%23.7%23.2%19.9%17.6%16.8%16.8%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

4 of 6 checks passed · August 1, 2026
What it owns · $847m
Short-term assets $594mLonger-term assets $253m
What it owes, and who funded it · $847m
Short-term liabilities $357mLonger-term liabilities $211mShareholders' equity $278m
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $594m of assets due within a year against $357m of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $594m short-term assets against $211m of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $8m of cash against $124m of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 44% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 84% to 44% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $65m of operating cash flow against $124m of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

28 /100

Weak moat

How hard Barnes & Noble Education's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 0 / 20

    Net income has been a median -5.1% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 8 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 22.4%, moving by 2.3 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 10 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median -2.6%; its worst year was -11.7%.

  • Cash conversion 5 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 5 of 10 years, at a median -0.7% of revenue.

  • Discipline 10 / 20

    The diluted share count rose 136833.3% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.4% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (33 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: BNED vs IMMRBNED vs SVVBNED vs ONEWBNED vs FLWS

More: Other Specialty Retail stocks compared, Consumer Discretionary sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 26, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.