Best Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015

Best Specialty Retail Companies To Buy For 2015: Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS)

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (Barnes & Noble), incorporated on November 19, 1986, is a bookseller. The Company is a content, commerce and technology company that provides customers access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform. As of April 27, 2013, it operated 1,361 bookstores in 50 states, 686 bookstores on college campuses, and operates one of the Web eCommerce sites, and develops digital content products and software. Barnes & Noble operates in three segments: B&N Retail, B&N College and NOOK. The Companys principal business is the sale of trade books (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles), mass market paperbacks (such as mystery, romance, science fiction and other popular fiction), childrens books, eBooks and other digital content, NOOK and related accessories, bargain books, magazines, gifts, cafe products and services, educational toys & games, music and movies direct to customers through its books tores or on barnesandnoble.com.

Of the Companys 1,361 bookstores, 675 operate primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC (B&N College), a wholly owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, operates 686 college bookstores at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble Retail (B&N Retail) operates the 675 retail bookstores. Retail also includes the Companys eCommerce site and Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. (Sterling or Sterling Publishing), a leader in general trade book publishing.

B&N Retail

This segment includes 675 bookstores as of April 27, 2013, primarily under the Barnes & Noble Booksellers trade name. These stores generally offer a dedicated NOOK area, a comprehensive trade book title base, a cafe, and departments dedicated to Juvenile, Toys & Games, DVDs, Music, Gift, Magazine and Bargain products. The stores also offer a calendar of ongoin! g events, incl uding author appearances and childrens activities. The B&N Retail segment also includes the Companys eCommerce website, barnesandnoble.com, and its publishing operation, Sterling Publishing. Barnes & Noble stores range in size from 3,000 to 60,000 square feet depending upon market size, with an overall average store size of 26,000 square feet. During the fiscal year ended April 27, 2013 (fiscal), the Company reduced the Barnes & Noble store base by 0.3 million square feet, bringing the total square footage to 17.7 million square feet. The Companys B&N Retail segment purchases physical books on a regular basis from over 800 publishers and over 50 wholesalers or distributors. As of April 27, 2013, Barnes & Noble had stores in 162 of the total 210 Designated Market Area markets.

Sterling Publishing is a publisher of non-fiction trade titles. It is a range of non-fiction and illustrated books and kits across a range of imprints, in categories, such as health and wellness, music and culture, food and wine, crafts and photography, puzzles and games, history and current affairs, as well as a childrens books.

B&N College

B&N College sells new and used textbooks in campus bookstores and online. As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operated 686 stores nationwide. The Companys customer base, which is mainly consisted of students and faculty, can purchase various items from their campus stores, including textbooks and course-related materials, emblematic apparel and gifts, trade books, computer products, NOOK products and related accessories, school and dorm supplies, convenience and cafe items.

As of April 27, 2013, B&N College operates 651 traditional college bookstores and 35 academic superstores, which are generally larger in size, offer cafes and provide a sense of community that engages the surrounding campus and local communities in college activities and culture. The traditional bookstores r ange in size from 500 to 48,000 square feet. The academ! ic supers! tores range in size from 8,000 to 75,000 square feet. B&N Colleges three customer constituencies are students, faculty members and campus administrators.

NOOK

This segment includes the Companys digital business, which includes the Companys eBookstore, digital newsstand and sales of NOOK devices and accessories to third party distribution partners, as well as to B&N Retail and B&N College. Barnes & Nobles NOOK digital bookstore and Reading Apps provide customers the ability to purchase and read their digital content and access to their Lifetime Library on a range of digital platforms, including Windows 8 PCs and tablets, iPad, iPhone , Android smartphones and tablets, PC and Mac. Barnes & Noble has implemented features on its digital platform to ensure that customers can access their NOOK content from almost all of todays most popular devices.

The Company com petes with Target, Books-A-Million, Waldenbooks, Amazon.com, Apple, Wal-Mart and Costco.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Part of the Android forking strategy necessitates operating a separate content storefront, shunning Google's official repository. Amazon's Appstore for Android serves precisely this purpose. However, there's also another bookselling Android rebel that's been having less tablet success by forking the platform, a rival that just surrendered to Google: Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS  ) .

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Barnes & Noble (BKS) sank almost 6% to close at $15.45. A bigger-than-expected drop in fiscal second-quarter revenue offset a profit rise fueled by cost cuts.

• [By Teresa Rivas]

  Shares of Barnes & Noble (BKS) were falling before the close Thursday, on news that John Malones Liberty Media (LMCA) is selling most of its 17% stake in the bookseller.

  Liberty Media reached an agreement with Barnes & Noble to sell 90% holdings, which will result in the loss of one of its two board se! ats. The ! shares are being purchased by institutional investors, with the sale expected to close next week.

  As The Wall Street Journal reports, Liberty didnt say how much it was selling the share for, but the move comes after Barnes & Noble has enjoyed a big rally, climbing 66% since February through yesterdays close. A person close to the deal says that the price was higher than $250 million, which would give Liberty a good deal of profit, as it paid $204 million for the entire stake in 2011. Its also been earning a fixed dividend on the preferred shares: The anonymous source pegs a return of more than20% on the investment.

  Read Barrons take on the stock from last month here.

• [By John Maxfield]

  Meanwhile, one of the worst-performing stocks in the broader market today is Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS  ) , down more than 17%. The ailing bookseller announced its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings today, revealing just how much trouble it's in. Revenue in its Nook division fell by 34% for the quarter, while same-store sales dropped 8.8%. In response, the company said it will stop producing the tablet versions of its Nook product line.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-specialty-retail-companies-to-buy-for-2015-3.html