Barnes & Noble Posts $2.7M 1Q Loss As Sales Drop

Investors welcomed the better-than-expected report, sending shares up 71 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to close at $24.60 Thursday.

Barnes & Noble's management said improved customer service, better use of promotions and operational improvements boosted the quarter's results, and they said strong book titles and its entrance into the electronic book format should help future results.

The company is focused on its recent acquisition of Fictionwise and its entry into a larger e-book market, said CEO Steve Riggio. And it is "well aware of the many players that exist in, as well as, are about to enter this arena," he said.

The digital market represents a growth opportunity for the company and will be "far larger" than the sum of the e-book versions of in-print books it currently has, he said.

"The greater amount of content is exciting to us and has inspired to us develop unique approaches to the user experience of buying and reading books," he said.

Details are to be announced as the new products launch this year.

Barnes & Noble plans to stay focused on operational improvements and close 15 stores by the end of the year.