Barnes & Noble Preview With New CEO

• The share price of Barnes & Noble, Inc. BKS has dropped more than 35 percent in the last three months.
• Stifel’s David Schick has maintained a Hold rating on the company.
• Barnes & Noble is expected to report its 1Q15 earnings well ahead of the Street consensus. Ronald D. Boire is scheduled to begin as the CEO in September.

Schick expects the company to report above consensus EPS for 1Q15, driven by over 3 percent comp, the strongest comp since 1Q12. The results are likely to help the stock which has seen a pullback due to risk aversion.

“We expect strong sales in 1Q15 driven by the fourth installment in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, the new book from Harper Lee, and a never-before-seen picture book by Dr. Seuss,” the Stifel report said.

Stifel’s READ survey indicated that spending was likely to have risen during the quarter, possibly driven by a robust summer reading list. The company has also announced the launch of a new NOOK tablet, in partnership with Samsung.

“We think sales should flow through well with leverage on stronger sales and a continued focus around costs,” Schick stated.