Risk Intelligence
Core Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
How strong and defensively sound is the company?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Suggestions
BNED · NYSE
BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION INC
Private betaSector unavailable · Industry unavailable
$11.23
+2.84%
Close on Sep 11, 2026
Insufficient Data
Updated date unavailable
Long-term research evidence only. No price targets, no trading signals, no recommendations.
Investment Report Card
BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION INC
Sector unavailable · Data confidence limited
No Suggested Investment Score today
Risk Intelligence is unavailable
Long-Term Potential
Research Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
Does the business have the characteristics needed to create value over many years?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Fundamental Momentum
Research Model
—
Not Available
Insufficient Data
Is the underlying business getting stronger or weaker?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Ownership Intelligence
Supplemental Intelligence
—
Not Available
Insufficient Coverage
What are important owners actually doing?
This reading is not available for this company yet.
Valuation Intelligence
Research Model
B−
74 / 100
Very Attractive
Is today's price reasonable?
Above average on this measure — and valuation is researched separately from the Suggested Investment Score.
Capital Returns Intelligence
Research Model
D
45 / 100
Moderate Capital Returns
How effectively does the company reward shareholders?
Weaker than most covered companies on this measure — and capital returns are researched separately from the Suggested Investment Score.
Why it stands out
- Attractive valuation: the stock reads 74 out of 100 on Valuation Intelligence (Very Attractive) relative to its own history and comparable companies.
What holds it back
- Ownership evidence is incomplete and should not be read as comprehensive.
Long-term view
Long-Term Potential is not available for this company, so no long-term reading is shown.
Ownership view
No disclosed ownership reading is available at the required confidence, so ownership is left blank rather than estimated.
Valuation view
BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION INC reads 74 out of 100 on Valuation Intelligence, recorded as Very Attractive. The stock currently trades above most of its own recent valuation history and below comparable companies. This describes the price being paid relative to the company's financials — it is not a forecast and not a fair value. Valuation Intelligence is a research model and contributes nothing to the Suggested Investment Score or the daily ranking.
Capital returns view
BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION INC reads 45 out of 100 on Capital Returns Intelligence (Moderate Capital Returns), reflecting a dividend and a share count rising about 131.8% a year. Capital Returns Intelligence is a research model and contributes nothing to the Suggested Investment Score or the daily ranking.
What changed
No meaningful recorded changes in the stored history.
Risk Intelligence is a core model, Long-Term Potential, Fundamental Momentum, Valuation Intelligence and Capital Returns Intelligence are research models, and Ownership Intelligence is supplemental descriptive evidence. Valuation Intelligence and Capital Returns Intelligence each contribute 0% to the Suggested Investment Score. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Compare BNED with other companiesAppears in
Rule-based membership
Membership means the company satisfied a published rule on the latest research build. It is not a recommendation.
60-Second Brief
Too few stored readings exist for this company to summarise honestly.
Composite discovery model
Suggested Investment Score
Suggested Investment Score
Not currently in the Suggested Investment ranking
Risk Intelligence is unavailable. A composite score is only published when every required input is available for this company. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap, and exclusion from the ranking is not a sell instruction.
COMPOSITE DISCOVERY MODEL — RESEARCH STAGE · Ranking updated September 12, 2026
Researched separately
Valuation Intelligence 74 · Very Attractive
RESEARCH MODEL
Valuation Intelligence is currently researched separately and does not affect the Suggested Investment Score or daily ranking.
Researched separately
Capital Returns Intelligence 45 · Moderate Capital Returns
RESEARCH MODEL
Capital Returns Intelligence is researched separately and contributes 0% to the Suggested Investment Score, the daily rank or any ranking event.
Why this company scores the way it does
This company does not currently hold a stored Suggested Investment Score, so no contribution breakdown can be shown.
Stored snapshots only
What changed
Research-score history available since September 2026.
Stored research history does not yet cover a full 30 days comparison for this company.
A change is reported as meaningful at 8 score points, 5 rank places, or any change of research classification. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.
Learn the metrics on this page
Plain-English definitions, with the formula and the limitations of each measure.
Fifth research lens · outside the score
Valuation Intelligence
Valuation Intelligence
Is today's price reasonable?
Valuation Intelligence is currently researched separately and does not affect the Suggested Investment Score or daily ranking.
74/ 100
Very Attractive
RESEARCH MODEL
Excellent coverage
Compared with its history
47
Elevated
Is this company expensive or inexpensive compared with its own history?
Compared with peers
77
Very Attractive
How expensive is this stock compared with similar companies?
Earnings & cash flow
82
Very Attractive
How much financial output does an investor receive relative to the price paid?
Growth-adjusted
100
Very Attractive
Does the company's growth help justify the valuation investors are paying?
BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION INC reads 74 out of 100 on Valuation Intelligence, recorded as Very Attractive. The stock currently trades above most of its own recent valuation history and below comparable companies. This describes the price being paid relative to the company's financials — it is not a forecast and not a fair value.
Price data through September 11, 2026 · Financial data through the quarter ended August 1, 2026
Valuation history
Stored readings only. The dashed line is this company's own median for the selected measure.
Only one stored valuation reading exists so far, so there is nothing to chart yet. Valuation history builds forward from activation rather than being reconstructed.
Current P/E 17.5x · peer median 21.7x
Valuation is inherently uncertain. A stock that appears inexpensive can continue falling, and a stock that appears expensive can continue rising. Valuation Intelligence provides context about the price investors are paying — it does not predict short-term market movements, and it never produces a fair value, a price target or a buy or sell range. Model VALUATION_INTELLIGENCE_V1.
Sixth research lens · outside the score
Capital Returns Intelligence
Capital Returns Intelligence
How effectively does the company reward shareholders?
Capital Returns Intelligence is researched separately and contributes 0% to the Suggested Investment Score, the daily rank or any ranking event.
45/ 100
Moderate Capital Returns
RESEARCH MODEL
Excellent coverage
Dividend Quality
56
Moderate Capital Returns
Dividend reliability
Not enough years of dividend history to measure growth.
Buyback Effectiveness
42
Moderate Capital Returns
Do buybacks actually reduce shares?
No net share repurchases are recorded in the stored cash-flow statements.
Dilution Control
5
Limited Capital Returns
Is your ownership share protected?
Capital Return Sustainability
93
Exceptional Capital Returns
Can the cash flow support it?
Shareholder Yield
5
Limited Capital Returns
Cash returned versus company value
BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION INC reads 45 out of 100 on Capital Returns Intelligence (Moderate Capital Returns), reflecting a dividend and a share count rising about 131.8% a year.
No measurable cash was returned to shareholders through dividends or net repurchases in the latest stored statements.
Price data through September 11, 2026 · Financial data through the quarter ended August 1, 2026
Capital returns history
Stored readings only. History builds forward from activation rather than being reconstructed.
Only one stored reading exists for this measure so far, so there is nothing to chart yet.
Why higher yield isn't always better
A very high dividend yield may reflect a falling share price or an unsustainable payout. Capital Returns Intelligence emphasizes consistency and sustainability rather than simply rewarding the highest yield.
Why buybacks can be misleading
Announced or gross buyback spending does not always mean shareholders are gaining ownership. Companies can simultaneously issue shares through employee compensation or acquisitions. Suggested Investments therefore considers actual share-count changes alongside repurchase spending.
What these terms mean
- Dividend Yield
- The annual dividend relative to the current share price.
- Payout Ratio
- The share of company earnings used to pay dividends.
- Free Cash Flow Payout
- How much of the company's available cash is being used for dividends.
- Share Repurchases
- When a company buys back its own stock.
- Dilution
- When the number of shares increases, reducing each existing share's percentage ownership of the company.
- Shareholder Yield
- A combined view of dividends and net share repurchases relative to the company's market value.
Capital Returns Intelligence describes how a company returns capital to shareholders. It is not a measure of stock-price performance, it does not predict future returns, and a strong reading is never a recommendation to buy. Dividends and repurchases can be reduced or stopped at any time. Model CAPITAL_RETURNS_INTELLIGENCE_V1, contributing 0% to the Suggested Investment Score.
Stored daily snapshots only
Ranking history
| Today | Not ranked | No stored score |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days ago | Not ranked | No stored score |
| 90 days ago | Not ranked | No stored score |
| First suggested | Not yet suggested | |
| Highest rank | Not ranked | |
In the company’s own words
What this company does
Unless the context otherwise indicates, references to "we," "us," "our" and "the Company" refer to Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. or "BNED", a Delaware corporation. References to "Barnes & Noble College" or "BNC" refer to our subsidiary Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC. References to "MBS" refer to our subsidiary MBS Textbook Exchange, LLC.
Our fiscal year is comprised of 52 or 53 weeks, ending on the Saturday closest to the last day of April. "Fiscal 2026" means the 52 weeks ended May 2, 2026, and "Fiscal 2025" means the 53 weeks ended May 3, 2025. "Fiscal 2027" means the 52 weeks ended May 1, 2027.
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. ("BNED") is one of the largest contract operators of physical and virtual bookstores for college and university campuses and K-12 institutions across the United States. We are also one of the largest textbook wholesalers and inventory management hardware and software providers. As of May 2, 2026, we operated 1,116 physical and virtual bookstores, delivering essential educational content and general merchandise within a dynamic omnichannel retail environment.
The strengths of our business include our ability to compete by developing new products and solutions to meet market needs, our large operating footprint with direct access to students and faculty, our well-established, deep relationships with academic partners and stable, long-term contracts and our well-recognized brands. We provide product and service offerings designed to address the most pressing issues in higher education, including enhanced convenience and improved affordability through innovative course material delivery models designed to drive improved student experiences and outcomes. We offer our BNC First Day affordable access course material programs, consisting of First Day Complete and First Day , which provide faculty required course materials on or before the first day of class at below market rates, as compared to the total retail price for the same course materials if purchased separately (a la carte), and students are billed the below market rate directly by the institution as a course charge or included in tuition. These programs have allowed us to reverse historical long-term trends in course materials revenue declines, which has been observed at those schools where such programs have been adopted, and improve predictability of our future results. Many institutions adopted First Day Complete in Fiscal 2026, and we plan to continue to scale the number of schools adopting First Day Complete in Fiscal 2027 and beyond.
Quoted from the business section of this company’s 10-K filed July 9, 2026. Read the filing
Four distinct intelligence areas
The IA view
Risk Intelligence
Production core
50
Restricted
No prior period to compare
Business Quality qualification score from the locked IA Defensive Research Core. Price Risk stays a separate category and is never blended in.
As of Sep 11, 2026
Long-Term Potential
Research model
—
Insufficient Data
No prior period to compare
Durable business economics and reinvestment characteristics. Independent external validation is pending.
Fundamental Momentum
Research model
—
Insufficient Data
No prior period to compare
Direction and breadth of change in underlying business fundamentals. Not a price-momentum signal.
Elite Investor Activity
Supplemental
—
Insufficient Data
No prior period to compare
No tracked manager filings mapped to this company.
Intelligence history
Not enough stored history to chart BNED yet. A company needs at least two published research or ownership periods before a trend can be shown.
Share price
BNED price history
Closing prices adjusted for splits and dividends, through Sep 11, 2026. Past prices do not indicate future results.
- 6M change
- +40.4%
- 1Y change
- +33.0%
- 3Y change
- -88.7%
- 5Y change
- -99.0%
- Max change
- -97.2%
Last stored close $11.23 · +33.0% over the selected range · 52 sessions shown
Balanced evidence
Why IA likes it
- No positive evidence is available under the current coverage.
Risk and uncertainty
What IA doesn’t like
- Ownership evidence is incomplete and should not be read as comprehensive.
What would change our view
- Business Quality falling below the frozen qualification threshold.
- Price Risk moving to a less favorable category.
- A sustained reversal in the Fundamental Momentum research evidence.
- New material public ownership disclosures.
Public filings · descriptive only
Elite Investor Activity
Reporting holders
—
New holders
—
Increasing
—
Reducing
—
Exiting
—
Coverage
Insufficient
Insufficient Coverage · Report period unavailable · Public date unavailable
| Manager | Change | Portfolio weight | Rank | Disclosed |
|---|
Insufficient high-confidence manager coverage.
Objective stored changes
What changed
No qualifying changes are recorded for this company in the stored research and filing history.
Ownership timeline
No high-confidence public ownership events are available.
General research only. Not personalized advice. Public filings may be delayed, amended, incomplete, or reflect positions that have changed since the reporting date.