Borders Group, one of the two main brick-and-mortar bookstore competitors to online-only retailer Amazon (AMZN), recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The development could present new opportunities for Amazon, which has already benefited from the growing digitization of literary content. Borders has indicated that it will close 200 stores, representing about 30% of its 642 stores in operation. The stores are expected to close by April 2011.

Continue reading Amazon, Apple and Google Benefit from Borders Bankruptcy

Amazon, Apple and Google Benefit from Borders Bankruptcy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Amazon and Nook Prices Drop as E-reader Battle Wages On

Amazon and Nook Prices Drop as E-reader Battle Wages On originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It wouldn't reveal the number, but Amazon (AMZN) did announce that it realized record sales for its Kindle e-reader this month. And, there's still the rest of the month to go, including the run-up to Christmas. Just as the battle for e-reader market share began to flare up, it already seems to be over.

This year, Sony (SNE) released a new e-reader, and Barnes & Noble (BKS) entered the market with its Nook device. Both posted early successes, which quickly became problems. The two companies sold out of inventory and won't be able to ship new orders until the new year.

Continue reading Amazon Kindle Sets Record, E-Reader Race Is Over

Amazon Kindle Sets Record, E-Reader Race Is Over originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If Amazon (AMZN) was comfortable with its spot atop the e-reader market, it just got a wakeup call from Barnes & Noble (BKS). The brick-and-mortar book retailer's e-reader, the Nook, which hasn't even hit stores yet, is in pre-order nirvana right now. The first run for the Nook occurred at the end of October (the product was introduced on October 20). These buyers were told the reader would ship on November 30. High demand resulted in backorders, so the next wave of pre-orders was scheduled to ship on December 7. Now, a third group will have to wait until December 11.

This product is on fire, and it still isn't even on shelves yet.

Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble wouldn't reveal how many of these devices have been pre-ordered, but she did say, "Demand for the product in our stores and online has surpassed our expectations." She also noted, "We are working hard to meet demand for the holidays."

Continue reading Barnes & Noble's Nook already makes a splash

Barnes & Noble's Nook already makes a splash originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For retailers, the crucial season is on its way. Blow the Christmas rush, and next year starts off on a miserable foot. Success, of course, also delivers a healthy dose of momentum -- and a little bit of wiggle room, important in what will continue to be a tough economy through at least the first half of next year. For booksellers, now contending with a new variable in the form of digital readers, e-readers will play a major role in defining the winners and losers. So far, it looks like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is off to a great start, and it will take some genuine innovation for the competition to chip away at its market share.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), once the leading names in literary retail, is expected to release its own e-reader this week. It will look a bit like Amazon's Kindle, according to Reuters, but with a touch screen intended to make the reader's experience easier. The price hasn't been disclosed yet, but rumor has it that it'll be higher than the Kindle's $259. BKS is staying mum on its plans in this space. There are others in the space, as well, including IREX Technologies, which is a spinoff of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG), Asutek (tk: tk) and a project called FirstPaper that has Hearst behind it.

Continue reading Amazon in the lead, but Kindle competition is coming

Amazon in the lead, but Kindle competition is coming originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), a bookseller that competes with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP), issued a Q2 earnings report on Thursday morning that in no way makes me want to invest in the company. As far as I'm concerned, the retailer has a lot of work to do, and I wouldn't want to involve my portfolio with a business that is still trying to find its way.

Barnes & Noble earned 14 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Earnings.com reports an expectation of 10 cents per share. So management went beyond projections. Should shareholders be content with such news and call it a day?

Continue reading Barnes & Noble struggles with comps in the second quarter

Barnes & Noble struggles with comps in the second quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is not an abstraction: buildings large and small are showing gaping vacancies. Storefronts are empty. Entire buildings sit waiting to be occupied. In Manhattan, retail vacancies have reached their highest rates since 2001. For the second quarter of this year, vacancies hit the absurd height of 12.4%, thanks to unemployment trends that won't quit and consumers reluctant to pry open their wallets.

Retailers are being hit just like the residential market.

Continue reading Commercial real estate vacancies surge above 12% in Manhattan

Commercial real estate vacancies surge above 12% in Manhattan originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Twilight and Harry Potter sales notwithstanding, there's a growing reality in our fair nation -- people just don't read like they used to. And with the slowdown in reading comes a definite decline in book sales.

The Book Industry Study Group reported that publishers sold fewer books in 2008, down 1.5% from 2007 to 3.08 billion. Of course, all was not lost -- total revenue edged 1% higher thanks to increased prices.

Continue reading Borders, Barnes & Noble need you to kill your television

Borders, Barnes & Noble need you to kill your television originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble (BKS) Q1 loss smaller than expected

Barnes & Noble (BKS) Q1 loss smaller than expected originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 May 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, the numbers do look nice. Sales rose 18% in the first quarter. Net income increased 20% to $0.41 per share. And free cash flow was said to have rocketed higher by over 80% over the last twelve months. These are impressive stats. And according to this news article, Amazon management beat analysts by a whopping ten pennies. That's a whole dime, my friends! Looks like people are using the electronic shopping cart a lot these days. Perhaps they find value in shopping at home during a recession. Saves fuel costs, and it's a lot easier to research prices and find deals.

Continue reading Amazon's earnings please the market, but should you put the stock in your shopping cart?

Amazon's earnings please the market, but should you put the stock in your shopping cart? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to this news source, Borders delivered adjusted income equal to $1.05 per share. The market was looking for $0.95 per share. Beating by a dime is a pretty wide margin and something to celebrate. If you're a healthy company, that is. Borders is not a healthy company. It's had all kinds of problems. For instance, Zac Bissonnette recently reported on the bookseller's debt problems and how it needed to secure a loan to stay running. Elizabeth Harrow discussed the terrible holiday-selling season and the replacement of the CEO back in January. And there have been workforce reductions.

Continue reading Borders wins the earnings game, but it's still a loser in my book

Borders wins the earnings game, but it's still a loser in my book originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Amazon had a great Q4, but don't buy just yet

Amazon had a great Q4, but don't buy just yet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Massive bookselling chain Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) reported today that holiday sales for the nine-week period ended Jan. 3 fell to $868.8 million, down 11.7% from a year ago. Same-store sales for the holiday season plunged 14.4%. The retailer said that holiday sales started off slow, but accelerated as the season continued.

Additionally, the bookseller said that CEO George Jones will be replaced by private equity executive Ron Marshall. The new chief executive has previously helmed turnarounds at food distributor Nash Finch Co. and supermarket chain Pathmark Stores Inc. Borders stated that the new appointment will help to "more aggressively drive a turnaround of the company within today's challenging economy."

Borders Group is also getting a new chief financial officer; Mark Bierley will be internally promoted to the position, replacing Ed Wilhelm.

BGP could definitely benefit from Marshall's turnaround prowess. The stock has endured a stomach-churning 52-week plunge of 95.2%, and is currently trading below 50 cents per share. By contrast, competitor Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) surged more than 9% today after scoring an upgrade from Sell to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

Borders Group confesses to plunging holiday sales, names new CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Borders Group (BGP) tanks after deadline extension on Ackman deal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So, how will booksellers such as Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), Borders Group (NYSE: BGP), and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) fare during the holiday season? It's an interesting question, one which is examined in an article at The New York Times. The piece talks about how the current recession seems to be affecting consumers and their desire to buy books. At the beginning of the article, two shoppers are browsing in a bookstore -- one buys, the other doesn't. Both have been affected by the bad economy. What are we to make of this?

I'll give you my take on things. Books, unfortunately, are simply not so glamorous these days. And I do think that booksellers are going to have a hard time this holiday season. With all the competition from video games and other media, the printed page just isn't that exciting to a lot of consumers. I don't think that books will be a top priority as the wallet continues to get squeezed and while job security remains an issue. Our attention spans have been cut so short these days, and they're only getting shorter. In an era of MTV quick-edits and PowerPoint presentations, 100,000-word diversions don't feel so diverting anymore.

Books are probably even less exciting to young people. Seriously, how many kids have books on their Christmas lists this year? They may want the latest Blu-ray cartoon from Disney (NYSE: DIS), or the latest Call of Duty game from Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), but I'm not so sure they want the latest Stephen King novel (as for me, I picked up King's latest short-story collection Just After Sunset at my local Barnes & Noble). Many kids have been introduced to the joys of reading through the Harry Potter series, but I don't think Potter will be working his magic this season. If parents do cut back this year on presents, I figure they're going to err on the side of making sure that all the non-book gifts are acquired.

Is there anything the booksellers can do about this?

Continue reading Booksellers hope people read even during a recession (BKS, AMZN, BGP)

Booksellers hope people read even during a recession (BKS, AMZN, BGP) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Barnes & Noble is not dead yet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Russian business runs on different rules. News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Rupert Murdoch, who has been doing business in China for years, is nervous about his Russian enterprises. This morning, the FBI announced it had rounded up a ring of data thieves, many from former Soviet Union countries. And then there's the little matter of BP-TNK, a joint venture between BP (NYSE: BP) and a Russian company, whose Russian shareholders are booting out its Western executives so they can take over the operation.

Here's what Silicon Alley insider reports Murdoch had to say about doing business in Russia: "We have great growing business there but just -- this is purely me, I'm sorry, I'm -- the more I read about investments in Russia, the less I like the feel of it. The more successful we'd be, the more vulnerable we'd be to have it stolen from us, so there we sell now."

In case you missed it, The Detroit Free Press reports that an international ring of data thieves used wardriving -- the practice of stealing data from unprotected Wi-Fi networks -- to take 40 million identities, use the information to print fake ATM cards, and steal millions of dollars. The corporate victims include customers of TJX (NYSE: TJX), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), and OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX). Five of the 11 defendants are from former Soviet Union countries -- "one is from Estonia, three are from Ukraine, and one is from Belarus."

Continue reading Why do we do business with Russia?

Why do we do business with Russia? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Late summer bestsellers won't be enough to save the bookstores originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Borders attempts to stand out from the crowd by being exactly like it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE: BKS) is considering a bid for rival bookseller Borders Group Inc (NYSE: BGP), the Wall Street Journal reported, a move which would allow Barnes & Noble to improve profits and reduce costs. Antitrust issues could prevent a deal.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that Carl Icahn's effort to remove Yahoo! Inc's (NASDAQ: YHOO) board has picked up new supporters, including T. Boone Pickens, who acquired a 0.75% stake. Some Yahoo shareholders believe it is still too early to predict whether Icahn will be able to carry July 3's shareholder vote.
• A Financial Times investigation discovered that Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO) incorrectly awarded top ratings to billions of dollars to debt products due to an error in its computer models. Moody's said it is in the process of "conducting a thorough review" of the rating of the constant proportion debt obligations, which should have been up to four notches lower.

• According to the people briefed on the matter, the New York Times reported that the buyout of Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) by Fortress Investment Group (FIG) and Centerbridge Parters may involve revised terms. The sources said the negotiations may "delay or even imperil" the deal.

Newspaper wrap-up: Barnes & Noble may bid for Borders originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 May 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.