Bookstore Sales Fell 28.3% in 2020 (publishersweekly.com)

The New York Times Company announced fourth quarter 2021 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $.41 compared with $.06 in the same period of 2020. Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (defined below) was $.43 in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with $.40 in the fourth quarter of 2020. Operating profit increased to $94.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 from $80.5 million in the same period of 2020 and adjusted operating profit (defined below) increased to $109.3 million from $97.7 million in the prior year, as higher advertising, subscription and other revenues more than offset higher costs.

*Third quarter comparable sales grew 12.7 percent, on top of 20.7 percent growth last year. -Comparable sales growth was driven entirely by traffic. -Store comparable sales increased 9.7 percent, on top of 9.9 percent growth last year. -Digital comparable sales grew 29 percent, following growth of 155 percent last year. -Same-day services (Order Pickup, Drive Up and Shipt) grew nearly 60 percent this year, on top of 200 percent last year. -More than 95 percent of Target's third quarter sales were fulfilled by its stores. *All five core merchandise categories delivered double-digit comparable sales growth, on top of strong sales performance last year.

Total sales for the second quarter were $791.1 million, declining 7.9% as compared to the prior year. Comparable store sales decreased 6.3%, with approximately half of this decline attributable to last year's release of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. The balance of the decline was primarily due to non-book categories. "Comparable sales improved throughout the second quarter and into November," said Demos Parneros, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. "Book sales continued to strengthen, and we saw improved traffic and conversion trends. As a result of the improving trends, we will continue to place a greater emphasis on books, while further narrowing our non-book assortment. We expect these improvements to continue as we head into the holiday season which, coupled with cost reductions, will enable us to achieve EBITDA of $180 million." Click Read More below for additional information.