Barnes & Noble sales fell 7.9%, to $791.1 million, in the second quarter ended October 28, and the net loss rose 47.5%, to $30.1 million. Both results were worse than analysts' forecasts, and as a result, in pre-market trading this morning, B&N stock was down about 7.5%, to $7.20 a share.
Sales at stores open at least a year fell 6.3%. B&N noted that about half the decline was because of difficult comparisons to the same quarter last year, when Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was selling well. The rest of the decline was attributed to non-book products.
In some positive news, CEO Demos Parneros noted that comp-store sales "improved throughout the second quarter and into November. Book sales continued to strengthen, and we saw improved traffic and conversion trends. As a result of the improving trends, we will continue to place a greater emphasis on books, while further narrowing our non-book assortment. We expect these improvements to continue as we head into the holiday season."
