Nook leads decline as Barnes & Noble Q3 2013 revenue down 8.8 percent to $2.2 billion

Currently the subject of many a rumor, Barnes & Noble just announced its quarterly results for Q3 2013 (its current fiscal quarter), showing what many expected: revenue is down almost 9 percent over last year to $2.2 billion, with gross earnings showing a precipitous 63 percent decline to $55.5 million. Despite well regarded (and priced) tablets, Nook business took one of the biggest hits, taking in only $316 million compared to $427 million over last year, a decline of nearly 26 percent. The company recently denied innuendo that it might be stepping away from Nook hardware altogether, but said in today's statement that it'll be "calibrating its business model" to look at reducing costs in the segment. However, with other expenses considered, the company has dropped $47 million so far this year, compared to a loss of only $11 million at the same time last year -- a trend which the Amazon competitor will need to put the brakes on, one way or the other.