[AMERICASMARKETS.USATODAY] Barnes & Noble, the struggling bookseller, saw its shares jump 8% Wednesday after saying it will spin off its Nook digital book business.The Nook business, which produced digital readers that were a constant also-ran versus offerings from Amazon, Google and Apple, required heavy investments from the company that it was ill-prepared to afford. Shares are up $2.13, or 10%, to $22.69 on the news.
The unit, to be spun off into a new publicly traded company called Nook Media, is 17% owned by Microsoft and 5% owned by publisher Pearson. The company plans to create a tablet in partnership with Samsung. The new business is expected to be pulled out of Barnes & Noble by March 2015.
The core business isn't all that healthy, though. Barnes & Noble said sales at stores open at least a year will fall in the low single digit percentage in the upcoming fiscal year. The company posted a loss of $36.7 million in the quarter ended May 3.
Yet, investors seem to be focused on the positives Wednesday. At least Barnes & Noble's quarterly loss is less severe than it was in the same quarter a year ago, when Barnes & Noble bled $114.8 million.