Well actually... On 2014 revenue of $6.4bn they lost $1.6bn. Their total assets are $3.8bn and liabilities are $2.6bn, which means another yearly loss of $1.6bn will sink them.
They are expected to spin off the Nook business and make some money (and reduce losses) from that, but I doubt it will be enough to save them in the long term.
https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ABKS&fstype=ii&ei=Kz_...
You'll also see the 2.6b you're calling liabilities is maybe accumulated depreciation? Actual FY2014 debt is 127.5M. Barnes & Noble is relatively debt-free for a large retailer.
https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ABKS&fstype=ii&ei=Kz_...
Total Assets 3,835.75 Total Liabilities 2,627.98
Per:
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/earnings/earnings.a...
"2014 revenues at Barnes & Noble, Inc. totaled $6.4B USD, while annual losses equaled $1.12 per share."
B&N has 60.24M shares outstanding. That makes their annual loss $67 million. They do indeed have a longer runway than I anticipated, but I still feel that they run a business in decline. Their saving grace from a few years ago (Nook) is now an albatross. What is their next move?
The physical bookstores have remained profitable, the losses have all been in the Nook unit (and specifically the digital part of the Nook unit -- the college bookstores, which are tied to the Nook unit, are also profitable.)
The most recent reports have cast doubt on the plans to spin off the Nook unit given its worsening performance -- while the college bookstores could probably be spun off (or kept with the main bookstore business) successfully, there doesn't really seem to be anything for investors in the Nook business.