Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Jun 28, 2026
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (BNED)
A forensic read on Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
-0.7
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
-3.6%
ROE
$471M
Market cap
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is -0.7, placing it in the Distress zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
3%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 3% and rising from -7% — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
$49MGoodwill impairments.Took $49M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year(s) (FY2019 ($49M)). Writedowns mean past acquisitions underperformed what was paid for them — worth weighing on capital-allocation skill.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-4.1%
Debt / Equity0.38x
Free Cash Flow$-98.3M
Latest Revenue$1.61B
Return on Equity-24.2%
Revenue Growth YoY+2.7%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on Barnes & Noble Education, Inc.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about BNED's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown