Barnes & Noble Education delays annual report amid internal investigation

According to a regulatory filing, Barnes & Noble Education filed a notification of late filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to report that the company is unable to file its annual report for the year ended May 3 within the prescribed time period without unreasonable effort or expense. It added, “Certain information regarding the recording of cost of digital sales was brought to the attention of management in July 2025, which promptly informed the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the company, that caused the Committee to commence an internal investigation with the assistance of outside counsel and advisors. The investigation is ongoing and all parties are working diligently to complete the investigation. However, based on initial findings, which could change as the investigation is in its early stages, management believes that the Company may have a potential overstatement of up to $23.0 million in the aggregate to its accounts receivable balance as of its May 3, 2025 fiscal year-end, which the Company believes is the cumulative net impact of overstatements and understatements to its cost of sales during the fiscal years 2024 and 2025, impacting results of operations in those periods.” The company believes that these potential impacts may have resulted from the actions of a payment processing employee, who has been suspended pending the results of the committee’s investigation.