I Don't Think This Was an April Fools Joke

But maybe Borders wishes it was . . . From PW

A series of one-time charges and lower sales lead to a loss from continuing operations of $184.7 million at Borders Group for the year ended January 31 compared to a loss of $19.9 million in the previous year. Total revenue declined 8.9%, to $3.27 billion. Sales fell 9.4% at the company’s superstores in the year, to $2.65 billion, and declined 14.7% at Waldenbook Specialty Retail, to $480.0 million. Comp sales were down 10.8% at the superstores for the full year, with book comps off 8.2% and non-book sales down 16.1%. Walden comps were off 5.1%.

As a result, Borders stock soared from $.63 to $1.05, which is precisely why I don’t understand the stock market. Here’s a one-liner from Forbes explaining why Borders was a “big mover” on Wall St. yesterday:

The operator of more than 900 book stores will cut its costs by another $120 million and it expects sales to keep sliding in 2009.

Huh.