After completing about a four month investigation into irregularities surrounding the way it accounts for the cost of digital sales, Barnes & Noble Education has wrapped up the inquiry and released preliminary financial results for the year ended May 3, 2025, as well as preliminary results for the six-month period ended November 1, 2025.
According to B&NE’s announcement, the investigation into the erroneous reporting of the cost of digital sales confirmed its preliminary finding that a lone employee, acting on his own, improperly reduced cost of sales in the fiscal years ended April 27, 2024 and May 3, 2025. The employee, who B&N said did not financially benefit from his actions, has been fired.
The new financial results, which are still subject to some adjustments, conform closely to the preliminary figures it released in July. Full-year preliminary (unaudited) revenue in fiscal 2025, ended May 3, 2025, is expected to be $1.6 billion, an increase of 2.6%, over the prior year. The gain was led by revenues from B&N College First Day programs, which increased 25.3% offsetting declines in traditional in-store sales.
The fiscal 2025 unaudited net loss is expected to be in the $68 million to $62.0 million range compared to an expected net loss in the $78.0 to $72.0 million range (as restated) in the prior year. A primary goal of B&NE management is to reduce the company's debt and it expects to report total debt at year-end of $103.1 million, compared to $196.3 million on April 27, 2024.
Preliminary unaudited results for the six months ended November 1, 2025 showed that the company is off to a promising start. B&NE expects revenue for the first six months of fiscal 2026 to be up approximately 7.8%, to $933.0 million, over the same period a year ago. Its preliminary net income for the first half of fiscal 2026 is expected to range from $3.0 to $8.0 million, an anticipated improvement of $62.0 to $73.0 million over net loss of $65 million to $59 million for the first six months of fiscal 2025 driven by comparable store top-line growth and continued cost management.
