The combination of a weak stock market and investors’ disappointment regarding a fourth-quarter report from Amazon drove down the Publishers Weekly Stock Index 12.3% in January. While Amazon posted big gains in sales and earnings in its 2015 fourth quarter compared to 2014, investors were expecting better operating margins, and the company’s share price fell $48.35 (7.6%) the day after the quarterly report was released. An uncertain outlook for the education market contributed to an 18.1% decline in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s share price in the month. Pearson’s share price, however, benefitted from the company’s announcement that in response to lower demand for textbooks, it is cutting 4,000 jobs—about 10% of its global workforce. News of the restructuring led to a slight increase in its share price in January.
| Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Dec. 31 | Jan. 29 | % Change |
| Pearson | 10.78 | 7.47 | 4.2% |
| CBS | 47.13 | 47.50 | 0.8 |
| Barnes & Noble | 8.71 | 8.77 | 0.7 |
| Losers | |||
| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 21.78 | 17.84 | -18.1 |
| Amazon | 675.89 | 587.00 | -13.2 |
| Scholastic | 38.56 | 34.33 | -10.9 |
| John Wiley | 45.03 | 41.80 | -7.2 |
| R.R. Donnelley | 14.72 | 13.97 | -5.3 |
| Educational Dev. Corp. | 11.07 | 10.53 | -4.9 |
| News Corp | 13.96 | 13.35 | -4.2 |
| Publishers Weekly Stock Index | 896.68 | 786.32 | -12.3 |
| Dow Jones Aver. | 17,425.03 | 16,466.30 | -5.5 |
Source: Publishers Weekly
