Barnes & Noble Education Announces Preliminary Full-Year Fiscal 2026 Unaudited Financial Results (Form 8-K)

Barnes & Noble Education Announces Preliminary Full-Year Fiscal 2026 Unaudited Financial Results

Fiscal 2026 Net Income Expected Between $15 Million and $18 Million

Adjusted EBITDA Expected between $75 Million and $77 Million, an increase of 26% to 30%

First Day Program Revenues Estimated to Increase 27% to 28%

Board of Directors Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 per Common Share

Florham Park, NJ, June 24, 2026 - Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED), ("Barnes & Noble Education," "BNED," "the Company," "we," "us," "our"), a leading solutions provider for the education industry, is providing preliminary, unaudited financial results for the fiscal year ended May 2, 2026. BNED's fiscal year is comprised of 52 or 53 weeks, ending on the Saturday closest to the last day of April. Fiscal 2026 includes 52 weeks vs. 53 weeks for fiscal 2025.

"Our preliminary fiscal 2026 results reflect strong execution across the business and the continued success of our BNC First Day® offerings," said Jonathan Shar, Chief Executive Officer. "We expect to deliver significant year-over-year growth in Adjusted EBITDA and post solid net income profitability. Our balance sheet is also expected to show continued improvement through further meaningful debt reduction. These results are driven by continued growth in First Day, improved comparable store performance, disciplined expense management, and strong sales contributions from new store partnerships secured through recent business wins."

FY2026 Preliminary Financial Results (unaudited)

Full-year preliminary revenue in fiscal 2026 is expected to be in the range of $1.710 to $1.720 billion, an increase of $100.0 to $110.0 million, or 6.2% to 6.8%, over the prior year.

Revenues from BNC First Day® programs are expected to increase by $160.3 to $166.3 million, or 27.0% to 28.0%, year-over-year, as First Day® Complete continues to see strong growth in institutional adoption.

Full-year fiscal 2026 net income is expected to be in the range of $15.0 to $18.0 million, compared to a net loss of $(65.8) million in the prior year. The improvement reflects strong operating performance and growth in BNC First Day® programs, as well as the absence of the $55.2 million loss on the extinguishment of debt recorded in fiscal 2025.

Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2026 is expected to be in the range of $75.0 to $77.0 million, compared to $59.4 million for fiscal 2025, representing an increase of approximately 26% to 30%.

Total debt at year-end is expected to be $71.0 million compared to $103.1 million on May 3, 2025. After subtracting $8.4 million of cash on hand, total net debt is expected to be $62.6 million, representing a $31.4 million, or approximately 33% year-over-year decrease.

The tables below reflect the reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the most comparable GAAP financial metric, Net income (loss):

			52 weeks ended						53 weeks ended
($ in thousands)			May 2, 2026						May 3, 2025
			(unaudited)						(unaudited)
Net income (loss)			$15,000 - $18,000						$	(65,825)
Add:
Depreciation and amortization expense			32,000 - 33,500						37,939
Impairment expense			11,000 - 13,000						1,713
Interest expense, net			15,500 - 16,000						22,260
Income tax expense			3,500 - 4,500						4,256
Loss on extinguishment of debt			-						55,233
Other income			(7,500) - (14,500)						(1,572)
Stock-based compensation expense (non-cash)			5,500 - 6,500						5,386
Adjusted EBITDA			$75,000 - $77,000						$	59,390
Cash interest			$12,500 - $13,000

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Outlook

Looking ahead to fiscal 2027, Barnes & Noble Education expects continued growth in revenues and is focused on driving operating leverage with disciplined expense management. The Company is targeting Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $85 to $92 million and further significant improvements in net income profitability. The Company also sees opportunities to drive better capital efficiency, which should contribute to additional reductions in debt and interest expense. The Company anticipates approximately $20 million in capital expenditures and should be a normal cash taxpayer.

Investor Day

The Company will host its Investor Day on June 25, 2026. The live webcast will begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time and is expected to conclude at approximately 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Investors may register to participate in the webcast here: https://bnedinvestor.netlify.app/

Dividend Program

Today the Company commenced its previously announced quarterly dividend program, with the Board declaring a first quarter cash dividend of $0.08 per common share payable to shareholders of record as of July 16, 2026. The dividend will be payable July 30, 2026.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information-Adjusted EBITDA

To supplement the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), the Company uses the financial measure of Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure under Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") regulations. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) plus (1) depreciation and amortization; (2) interest expense, net (3) income taxes, and (4) as adjusted for additional items that are subtracted from or added to net income (loss).

Adjusted EBITDA has been reconciled to the most comparable financial measures presented in accordance with GAAP, consolidated net income (loss). All of the items included in the reconciliation are either (i) non-cash items or (ii) items that management does not consider in assessing our on-going operating performance.

Adjusted EBITDA is not intended as a substitute for and should not be considered superior to measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, the Company's use of Adjusted EBITDA may be different from similarly named measures used by other companies, limiting its usefulness for comparison purposes.

We review Adjusted EBITDA as an internal measure to evaluate our performance at a consolidated level to manage our operations. We believe that this measure is a useful performance measure which is used by us to facilitate a comparison of our on-going operating performance on a consistent basis from period-to-period. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides for a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business than measures under GAAP can provide alone, as it excludes certain items that management believes do not reflect the ordinary performance of our operations in a particular period. Our Board of Directors and management also use Adjusted EBITDA at a consolidated level as one of the primary methods for planning and forecasting expected performance, for evaluating on a quarterly and annual basis actual results against such expectations, and as a measure for performance incentive plans. We believe that the inclusion of Adjusted EBITDA results provides investors useful and important information regarding our operating results, in a manner that is consistent with management's evaluation of business performance.

The Company urges investors to carefully review the GAAP financial information included as part of the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year-ended May 2, 2026, when filed with the SEC. We do not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking non-GAAP financial metrics, because reconciling information is not available without an unreasonable effort, such as attempting to make assumptions that cannot reasonably be made on a forward-looking basis to determine the corresponding GAAP metric.

ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC.

Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED) is a leading solutions provider for the education industry, driving affordability, access and achievement at hundreds of academic institutions nationwide and ensuring millions of students are equipped for success in the classroom and beyond. Through its family of brands, BNED offers campus retail services and academic solutions, wholesale capabilities and more. BNED is a company serving all who work to elevate their lives through education, supporting students, faculty and institutions as they make tomorrow a better and smarter world. For more information, visit www.bned.com.

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