The Publishers Weekly Stock Index fell 7.2% in April as share prices dropped for 11 of the 14 companies on the PWSI. The stock price of Chegg, after rising 11.1% in March, pulled back last month with its price dropping 24.7%, the biggest decline among PWSI stocks. Barnes & Noble’s stock price tumbled 21.5%, largely due to negative investor reaction to the decision by B&N chairman Len Riggio to sell a chunk of his B&N shares. For the second consecutive month the share price of Amazon took a big hit, this time after the e-tailer released a first-quarter report that showed another operating loss for the company despite a jump in revenue. At one point following the release of its quarterly results, the stock price had fallen below $300 before finishing April at $304.13. Between the beginning of 2014 and the end of April, Amazon’s stock price fell almost 24%.
| Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Mar. 31 | Apr. 30 | % Change |
| Pearson | 17.81 | 18.77 | 5.4% |
| Educational Dev. Corp. | 3.62 | 3.80 | 4.7 |
| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 20.33 | 20.43 | 0.5 |
| Losers | |||
| Chegg | 7.00 | 5.27 | -24.7 |
| Barnes & Noble | 20.90 | 16.40 | -21.5 |
| Amazon | 336.37 | 304.13 | -9.5 |
| CBS | 61.80 | 57.76 | -6.5 |
| Courier Corp. | 15.40 | 14.53 | -5.6 |
| Scholastic | 34.48 | 32.91 | -4.5 |
| Publishers Weekly Stock Index | 615.33 | 570.90 | -7.2 |
| Dow Jones Aver. | 16,457.66 | 16,580.84 | 0.7 |
