EY Shrinks Roster of Audit Clients in Bid to Improve Performance

Barnes & Noble Education Inc. and The Children’s Place Inc. are among the audit clients Ernst & Young LLP has dropped in recent months as the firm looks to trim its portfolio and rebound after regulators found that more than a third of its inspected audits missed the mark.

The Big Four firm typically tops its competitors by auditing the most US-listed companies. It had 971 listed clients as of January, according to Ideagen Audit Analytics, and a tech-heavy roster that included Apple, Alphabet, and Meta.

But EY lost a net 17 clients during the first quarter of ...