BNED Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.

Overview and Growth

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. generated $1.71B of revenue in fiscal 2026, with net income of $16.87M and an operating cash inflow of $50.06M. The $1.71B revenue base provides substantial context for the company’s earnings, cash generation, and capital requirements. Compared with $1.61B in fiscal 2025, revenue recorded a 6.5% year-over-year increase. The company reported diluted EPS of $0.49, adding a shareholder-level measure to the absolute income figures considered below. Revenue equaled 2.32x of total assets, indicating how much reported top-line activity the company produced relative to its period-end asset base.

Profitability

Gross profit was $366.17M, representing the portion of revenue remaining after the reported cost of revenue and before operating expenses. The gross-profit relationship equaled 21.4% of revenue, quantifying the portion retained before operating expenses were recognized. Operations produced $36.54M of income after the reported operating expense base, before the remaining non-operating and tax effects. Relative to revenue, operating income represented 2.1%, showing how efficiently sales converted into operating profit. The bottom-line result was net income of $16.87M, after the operating, financing, tax, and other items recognized for the period. The final earnings result represented 1.0% of revenue, connecting the absolute net income figure with the company’s top-line scale. The earnings statement records $20.67M of pretax income, the profit base against which the reported tax provision can be assessed. Measured against revenue, pretax income equaled 1.2%, adding a pre-tax profitability layer between revenue and net income. Income tax expense totaled $3.80M, providing the reported tax component that separates pretax and after-tax earnings. The income-tax provision equaled 18.4% of pretax income, showing the tax burden absorbed by the year’s earnings.

Liquidity and Capital Structure

The company held $739.90M of assets against $445.46M of liabilities and $294.44M of equity, revealing how the asset base was financed. Current assets were $484.46M against $283.60M of current liabilities, framing the resources and obligations classified within the near-term balance-sheet horizon. The current ratio was 1.71x, with current assets exceeding current liabilities and providing a short-term liquidity cushion. Reported cash and equivalents were $8.42M, separating immediately recognizable cash resources from the rest of the current-asset base. The cash balance equaled 3.0% of current liabilities, showing how much near-term coverage came from cash alone. Total debt was $71.00M, establishing the amount of borrowing carried within the company’s capital structure. The debt-to-equity relationship was 0.24x, showing how much debt the company carried for each unit of book equity. Relative to total assets, debt measured 9.6%, showing how much of the asset base was matched by borrowing. The liabilities-to-assets relationship was 60.2%, placing reported obligations against the full positive asset balance. Cash and equivalents equaled 1.1% of total assets, showing the liquid cash component within the company’s broader resource base.

Cash Flow and Earnings Quality

The company reported $50.06M of operating cash flow, a cash inflow that shows the cash generated by operations. Operating cash flow equaled 2.97x of net income, showing how strongly accounting earnings converted into cash from operations. Capital spending was $16.20M, absorbing part of the cash generated from operations before free cash flow. Capital spending absorbed 32.4% of operating cash flow, quantifying the share of cash from operations directed to investment. After capital spending, free cash flow was $33.86M, leaving cash available for debt reduction, shareholder returns, or further investment. Relative to revenue, free cash flow equaled 2.0%, showing how much sales converted into cash after investment. Free cash flow equaled 4.6% of total assets, relating post-investment cash generation to the company’s resource base.

Based on the annual report for the fiscal year ending May 2, 2026. Analysis generated Oct 21, 2026.