Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED) operates as one of the largest contract operators of physical and virtual bookstores serving college and university campuses and K-12 institutions across the United States. The company also functions as a major textbook wholesaler and provider of inventory management… From the company’s description.
Margins and return on equity change in ; everything else in percent. Fewer shares and less debt are shown plainly, not as bad news — it depends what you make of buybacks. Dotted labels explain each measure. is shown separately from the annual figures.
What Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. does
In the company’s own words
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED) operates as one of the largest contract operators of physical and virtual bookstores serving college and university campuses and K-12 institutions across the United States. The company also functions as a major textbook wholesaler and provider of inventory management hardware and software solutions. More information is available at www.bned.com.
As of May 2, 2026, BNED operated 1,116 physical and virtual bookstores, comprising 647 physical campus bookstores and 469 virtual bookstores located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company serves as a critical educational retail partner, providing students and faculty with course materials, general merchandise, and campus-centric services.
The core business centers on course material sales and rentals, including new and used print textbooks available for purchase or rent, digital textbooks, and publisher-hosted digital courseware. A strategic initiative involves the BNC First Day® affordable access course material programs, consisting of First Day Complete and First Day offerings that provide required course materials at below-market rates, with students billed directly by institutions. During fiscal 2026, BNC First Day® total revenue reached $760.1 million, representing 28 percent growth year-over-year.
Beyond textbooks, BNED generates revenue through general merchandise including collegiate apparel, school spirit products, technology items, and supplies. The company operates 54 customized cafés featuring Starbucks Coffee and regional offerings, plus 47 True Spirit® apparel and spirit shop e-commerce websites. Additional revenue streams include brand marketing programs, wholesale textbook distribution through approximately 200,000 unique titles, and point-of-sale software and inventory management solutions sold to approximately 311 college bookstores.
The company maintains the Barnes & Noble brand through a license from its former parent, alongside subsidiary brands BNC and MBS. BNED operates as a single reporting segment and maintains strategic service provider relationships with VitalSource Technologies for digital content delivery and with Fanatics and Lids for e-commerce capabilities and general merchandise assortment. The business model emphasizes long-term institutional relationships, with physical campus bookstores averaging 17 years of tenure with partner institutions.
Company details
- Sector
- Consumer Discretionary
- Industry (SIC)
- Retail
- Headquarters
- FLORHAM PARK, NJ
- Fiscal year end
- May
- CIK
- 1634117
- SIC
- 5940
Financial performance, year by year
Fiscal 2016–2026 · USDThe full income statement, balance sheet and cash flow for each of these years — every figure traceable to its filing — is on the Financials tab with a free account.
Who owns Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. — and what changed
Funds as of 2026Q2 · superinvestors as of 2026-06-30
Largest fund holders · Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.’s weight in each
Fund ownership is a floor, not a census — pensions, insurers and people holding shares directly are not visible here.
Fund ownership counts N-PORT filers only, so it is a floor rather than a census — pensions, insurers and direct holders are not visible here, and the remainder is not “held by individuals”.
Every fund and institutional holder, quarter by quarter, is on the Ownership tab with a free account.
Recent filings
All filings →Each filing opens into its own statements and disclosures here.
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