NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Barnes & Noble (BKS) - Get Report shares are down 9.09% to $22.60 in trading on Tuesday following the release of the bookstore chain's third quarter earnings results before the opening bell today.

The company's planned spinoff of its college books business and higher than expected taxes caused the company to report third quarter earnings of 93 cents per diluted share, missing analysts' $1.23 estimates by 30 cents per share.

The company said that it had to pay 55% more in income taxes this quarter as it purchased back the stakes former partners Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Report and Pearson Education had in its Kindle Media division.

The company generated $1.96 billion in revenue during the period, a 2% year over year decline that still topped analysts' $1.92 billion expectations.

TheStreet Ratings team rates BARNES & NOBLE INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate BARNES & NOBLE INC (BKS) a BUY. This is driven by a number of strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its good cash flow from operations, solid stock price performance, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• You can view the full analysis from the report here: BKS Ratings Report

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