Why Barnes & Noble Will Still Go Bankrupt

The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which consumer-goods editor and analyst Austin Smith and industrials editor and analyst Brendan Byrnes discuss topics around the investing world.

Up for discussion today is the bull case that Barnes & Noble (NYS: BKS) has the legs to survive because its lease payments are expected to be lower than in the past, now that Borders is out of the picture. However, the company is still burning cash fast, and it still has less than half of what it did as recently as April 2011, which wasn't much. To put it into perspective, it currently has only 10% of the cash it did in 2009. Slightly reduced lease payments won't fill its coffers; it will only slightly delay the inevitable.

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At the time thisarticle was published Austin Smith has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Brendan Byrnes owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Amazon.com.Motley Fool newsletter services recommendApple and Amazon.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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