BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC (BNED)
Consumer Discretionary · Education services and retail · NYSE
Barnes & Noble Education operates a network of physical and virtual campus bookstores, providing essential course materials and collegiate merchandise to students and universities across the U.S.
What BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC does
Barnes & Noble Education is a major contract operator of physical and virtual bookstores for colleges, universities, and K-12 institutions across the United States. The company also operates as a significant textbook wholesaler and provider of inventory management hardware and software for academic retailers. Its core offerings include course materials (textbooks, digital content, rentals) and general campus merchandise such as emblematic apparel and dorm supplies.
Recent developments
The company reiterated its fiscal 2027 outlook, targeting Adjusted EBITDA between $85 million and $92 million. It reported strong momentum in its First Day® Complete program, which is expected to reach over 1.43 million students in the Fall 2026 term, a 26% increase year-over-year.
From BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC's filing of 2026-09-08.
Themes: education technology / edtech, affordable course materials, campus retail / e-commerce, omnichannel retail
Fundamentals
- Price$11.94 as of 2026-10-08 close
- Market cap$414M as of 2026-09-03 (share count; price 2026-10-08)
- 1-year return+25.0% 2025-10-08 close $9.55 → 2026-10-08 close $11.94
- P/E24.88 as of 2026-10-08
- Net margin+1.0% FY2026, SEC XBRL
- Gross margin+21.4% FY2026, SEC XBRL
- ROE+5.7% FY2026, SEC XBRL
- Debt / equity0.24 as of 2026-09-03
- Revenue growth (YoY)+6.5% as of 2026-09-03
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+3.6% SEC XBRL
- Beta1.46 as of 2026-09-03
- Last reported earnings2026-09-08 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
How BNED compares in its sector
- price-to-earnings ratiomiddle range 258 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-10-08
- net profit marginmiddle range 314 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-09-03
- operating marginmiddle range 281 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-09-03
- gross marginbottom 25% 191 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-09-03
- return on equitymiddle range 293 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of 2026-09-03
- 3-year revenue CAGRmiddle range 326 covered Consumer Discretionary peers
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)middle range 311 covered Consumer Discretionary peers, as of FY2026
Position among covered Consumer Discretionary companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
How BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC looks technically
BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC (BNED) is trading 15.1% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend. Its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 117 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal. There is no clear trend right now — the price is choppy (ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 13, below the 25 that marks a real trend). Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 58, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). It just made a new 20-day high, its first since 2026-09-08, pushing above its recent trading range. It is 19.1% below its highest point of the past year.
Trend
8
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 15.1% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend | +15.1% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $11.83 | $11.83 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $10.37 | $10.37 |
| Swing structure | each recent peak has been lower than the one before it and each dip deeper — the pattern chart-watchers call a downtrend, which describes where price has already been and not where it goes next | lower highs and lower lows |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing low 22 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 22 sessions |
| Wave structure | its recent swings can be read as a completed three-part downward correction — a pullback in the A-B-C shape Elliott-wave chartists use; the labelling fails if price closes below 10.465. It is the only labelling that fits, though not with textbook proportions, and it describes the swings already printed, not what comes next. | possible three-wave downward correction, complete (atypical proportions) |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 117 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal | 117 sessions |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | there is no clear trend right now — the price is choppy (ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 13, below the 25 that marks a real trend) | 12.7 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 58, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 58.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading right at the top of its 14-day range ($10.53 to $11.94) — its "stochastic" reading is 100 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been climbing within that range over the last few sessions. | 100.0 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, is in positive territory (momentum leaning bullish) | 11 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $14.75 | $14.75 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 19.1% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -19.1% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 102.4% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +102.4% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 19.1% below its highest point of the past year | 19.1% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it just made a new 20-day high, its first since 2026-09-08, pushing above its recent trading range | 1 session |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day low about 17 trading days ago | 17 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $1598.00 (set on 2015-07-23) | $1598.00 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($6.12 to $13.74), and it has given back roughly a quarter of its rise from last year’s low — 24% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $8.79 to $9.03. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 23.6% |
| From the all-time high | it is 99.3% below its all-time high | -99.3% |
| Nearest price level | it is trading 0.6% above a support level at $11.87 — a price it turned at four times since 2024-11-27, most recently on 2026-08-03. Since 2024-10-08 it has 11 such levels below the current price and 3 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | -0.6% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $5.90 (set on 2025-11-21) | $5.90 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 102.4% above its all-time low | +102.4% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are narrower than usual versus its own recent 6-month history (tighter than about 78% of it) | 22nd percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $0.3961 between its high and its low — about 3.3% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $0.3961 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $10.41 and $12.05 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $10.41 – $11.23 – $12.05 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 3.3% in a typical session — about typical for the companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 3.3% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 4.0 daily ranges above its 200-day average price (15.1% above it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 4.0 daily ranges above its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 1.07× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts' average price target is unchanged from the prior reading | 0.0% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | not available for this company yet | n/a |
Candlestick patterns
1
| Since a bullish engulfing | 2 sessions ago it opened below the previous session's close and finished above that session's open — a "bullish engulfing" pair, where one up day more than undid the down day before it | 2 sessions ago |
|---|
Price gaps
3
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-10-08 0.2% above the previous session's close — an overnight gap, the part of the move that happened while the market was shut, and traded back through that level before the close | +0.2% |
|---|---|---|
| Open gap | it gapped 2.1% above the previous close 12 sessions ago and has not traded back through the level it left behind at 10.74 — an "unfilled gap", which describes a price range no trade has since crossed and is not a forecast that it will be crossed | +2.0% |
| Gap filled | a 2.2% gap down opened on 2026-07-17 has been "filled" 57 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it closed again during the very session that opened it | 57 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it has closed higher 3 sessions in a row, a +3.47% move over the run — an unbroken run of up days, which describes what has already happened and says nothing about the next session | 3 sessions up |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock lagged the market by 3.6 percentage points (the stock lost 2.5% while the market gained 1.0%) | -3.6% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock lagged the market by 1.3 percentage points (the stock gained 2.5% while the market gained 3.8%) | -1.3% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock beat the market by 7.1 percentage points (the stock gained 24.5% while the market gained 17.5%) | +7.0% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock beat the market by 10.0 percentage points (the stock gained 25.0% while the market gained 15.0%) | +10.1% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 5 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bullish state: a "golden cross" — its 50-day average is above its 200-day, trading above its 200-day average, a fresh 20-day high, MACD momentum is positive, outperforming the market over 6 months — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 5 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 2 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bearish state: near the top of its 14-day range (overbought), trading below the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 2 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 3.3% below the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-09-01 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established downtrend, with the band above acting as the level that would have to be cleared. The band itself is moderate, spanning 2.3% of the share price. | -3.3% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 14% above the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $10.52 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 192 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +13.5% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 7% above the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-09-08 (its 10-Q), so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $11.17 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 23 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +6.9% |
Price levels it has turned at before
BNED last closed at $11.94 on 2026-10-08. Since 2024-10-08 it has turned at 11 prices below its last close and 3 above; the 3 nearest below and the 3 nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $11.87 | Support | 0.6% below the last close | turned there four times · 2024-11-27 to 2026-08-03 |
| $12.20 | Resistance | 2.1% above the last close | turned there three times · 2025-01-13 to 2025-06-24 |
| $11.64 | Support | 2.5% below the last close | turned there four times · 2025-01-30 to 2026-08-31 |
| $11.37 | Support | 4.8% below the last close | turned there three times · 2025-02-11 to 2026-04-23 |
| $12.84 | Resistance | 7.5% above the last close | turned there twice · 2026-08-26 to 2026-09-04 |
| $13.15 | Resistance | 10.2% above the last close | turned there three times · 2026-07-13 to 2026-08-10 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
Its recent swings can be read as a three-part downward correction — the A-B-C shape chartists use for a pullback — now complete.
This labelling fails — stops being a possible reading at all — if it closes below $10.46.
It is the only labelling that fits these swings, though its proportions are not the textbook ones.
This reading has stood for 2 trading days, since 2026-10-07.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-10-08.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading above the 200-day moving average · Broke out to a new 20-day high · trendless / choppy (low ADX) · beating the market · At the top of its 14-day range (stochastic above 80) · Trading below the Ichimoku cloud | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · breakout · fifty two week high low
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-10-08. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Mean price target$17.25 range $16.00 – $18.50
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-10-06. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for BNED
- Consensus EPS estimate$1.05 next reporting period, as of 2026-10-06
- Estimate change, 30 days+$1.51 from -$0.46, on 2026-09-02, 34-day window
- Readings revised upward25% of 8 comparable readings
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["Dependency on access to capital markets and debt facilities for liquidity.","Intense competition from publishers, online retailers, and direct-to-student platforms.","Material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting affecting financial oversight and reporting processes."]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of BNED's 10-Q filed 2026-09-08 against the prior one filed 2026-03-10.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Newer filing (2026-09-08) adds a reference to "Barnes & Noble College" or "BNC" as referring to subsidiary Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC.
- Newer filing (2026-09-08) adds that the following should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements in Item 15 of the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended May 2, 2026 filed with the SEC on July 9, 2026.
- Newer filing (2026-09-08) changes the book description in pricing programs from "access" to "affordable access" in the list of issues addressed in higher education.
- Newer filing (2026-09-08) adds trademark symbol to "First Day® Complete" and "First Day ®" in program description.
- Newer filing (2026-09-08) adds "We continue to see strong institutional interest in First Day® Complete and First Day® programs, reflecting an ongoing shift by colleges and universities toward affordable access course material models that increase student participation and improve access to required course materials."
- Removed:
- Older filing (2026-03-10) includes a "Restatement of Previously Issued Consolidated Financial Statements" subsection describing restatement of prior financials, corrective errors related to cost of digital sales and lease arrangements, and notes no additional restatements since the Annual Report filing (removed in newer filing).
- Older filing (2026-03-10) states the Company operates 1,120 physical and virtual bookstores (newer states 1,062).
- Older filing (2026-03-10) includes "We are moving quickly to accelerate our BNC First Day® programs strategy. Institutions continued to adopt BNC First Day® programs during the first three quarters of Fiscal 2026." (removed and replaced in newer filing).
- Reworded:
- Store count changed from 1,120 (older filing, 2026-03-10) to 1,062 (newer filing, 2026-09-08).
- Description of issues addressed in higher education changed from "access, enhanced convenience and improved affordability" (older) to "affordable access, enhanced convenience and improved affordability" (newer).
- Program naming punctuation changed from "First Day Complete and First Day" (older) to "First Day® Complete and First Day ®" (newer).
- Older filing's statement about accelerating BNC First Day® programs during the first three quarters of Fiscal 2026 was replaced by newer filing's statement about continuing to see strong institutional interest in the programs.
- Notes:
- The provided newer and older text excerpts may be truncated; the newer excerpt ends mid-sentence with "see Part I -", and the older excerpt contains page break markers (27 / Table of Contents). Comparison is limited to the text provided.
- The older filing (filed 2026-03-10) covers an earlier period; differences such as store count and restatement references may reflect normal interim versus annual filing differences rather than substantive business changes.
Risk Factors
- Reworded:
- The period referenced changed from 'the 13 weeks ended January 31, 2026' in the filing dated 2026-03-10 to 'the 13 weeks ended August 1, 2026' in the filing dated 2026-09-08.
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
0 open-market purchases and 3 open-market sales by insiders in the last 90 days, of which we have read Form 4 filings through 2026-10-04. The 5 days since 2026-10-04 have not been checked yet.
- Last 30 days · read to 2026-10-040 buys · 2 sells ($356590) — 2 selling insiders
- Last 90 days · read to 2026-10-040 buys · 3 sells ($419790) — 3 selling insiders
- Last 180 days · read to 2026-10-040 buys · 9 sells ($1M) — 4 selling insiders
Activity heuristic: net selling (a transparent product heuristic from the counts above, not a prediction or advice)
Most recent open-market transaction: 2026-09-23. Based on Form 4 filings read through 2026-10-04; anything filed since is not yet included.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsAsk about BNED's insider activity →
Only open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
4 institutional 13F filers reported holding BNED as of 2026-06-30 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 4
- Reported shares held 1,652,224
- Reported value $20,751,932
reported quarterly holdings change (2026-03-31 → 2026-06-30): 0 new, 3 increased, 1 decreased, 1 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Ask about BNED's institutional holders → See what each manager we track holds →
Short interest (FINRA)
BNED had 1,598,649 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-09-15 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
BNED had 4.61% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-09-15 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 4.4 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 1,598,649
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 4.61%
- Prior settlement (shares) 1,464,351
- Reported change 9.17%
- Days to cover (reported) 4.4
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-09-15 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- Amazon (AMZN)
- Follett Corporation
- Chegg (CHGG)
- VitalSource Technologies
- RedShelf
- Akademos
- eCampus
- Sodexo
- Aramark
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
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Frequently asked questions
What does BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC (BNED) do?
Barnes & Noble Education is a major contract operator of physical and virtual bookstores for colleges, universities, and K-12 institutions across the United States. The company also operates as a significant textbook wholesaler and provider of inventory management hardware and software for academic retailers. Its core offerings include course materials (textbooks, digital content, rentals) and general campus merchandise such as emblematic apparel and dorm supplies.
What sector is BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC (BNED) in?
BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC (BNED) is classified in the Consumer Discretionary sector. Its industry is Education services and retail. It trades on NYSE.
Who are BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC's (BNED) competitors?
Notable peers of BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC (BNED) include Amazon, Follett Corporation, Chegg, VitalSource Technologies and RedShelf. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC (BNED) overbought or oversold right now?
BARNES AND NOBLE EDUCATION INC (BNED) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 58, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-10-08). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on BNED come from?
Fundamentals come from SEC XBRL company filings for the figures marked with a fiscal year, and market data, as of 2026-09-03 for the rest; prices are market data, as of 2026-09-03; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: SEC XBRL company filings for the figures marked with a fiscal year, and market data, as of 2026-09-03 for the rest. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-10-08.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.