Actually, I think the balance sheet is affected because they&#x27;re realizing a profit on the sale.<p>The profits probably haven&#x27;t been accrued in past P&amp;L&#x27;s have they?<p>So the amount of profit will be a credit to equity and a debit to cash, improving the leverage of the balance sheet.<p>But that&#x27;s beside the point, any good analyst would have already adjusted their balance sheet to take account of the value of real estate.<p>My best guess is that they are planning a round of lay-offs and will use progressively less space in the building.  I&#x27;d wager that they plan to move headcount to lower cost areas.  They also view the real estate market as peaking and want to get out at the top instead o ending up with a depreciating asset.  These are just my wild guesses though, no analysis to back it up.<p>Overall, it&#x27;s a smart move.