The Publishers Weekly Stock Index fell 3.8% in November as the share prices of five companies on the PWSI fell in the month and prices of another five rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average performed better than the PWSI, rising 5.4% in November. The biggest factor in the overall decline was the performance of Amazon. Although other companies had larger declines in November, Amazon’s shares fell by almost $50 in the month, to $750.57 on Nov. 30. Within the past year, the company’s stock price peaked at $847.21. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s share price dropped 9.2% after falling by more than 5% in October, following the release of disappointing third-quarter results. Barnes & Noble’s share price continued its volatile ways in November. It jumped by more than 10% after the retailer released earnings just before Thanksgiving. Investors seemed to take heart that despite a decline in sales, B&N cut its losses in the quarter and said it expects revenue to improve over the holidays.
| Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Oct. 31 | Nov. 30 | % Change |
| Barnes & Noble | 10.30 | 12.60 | 22.3% |
| CBS | 51.03 | 60.72 | 19.0% |
| Scholastic | 38.25 | 44.09 | 15.3% |
| Pearson | 9.23 | 9.87 | 6.9% |
| John Wiley | 51.60 | 54.85 | 6.2% |
| Losers | |||
| Educational Dev. Corp. | 9.35 | 9.05 | -3.2% |
| Amazon | 789.82 | 750.57 | -4.9% |
| News Corp | 12.12 | 11.56 | -7.2% |
| LSC | 22.24 | 20.64 | -9.0% |
| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 12.65 | 11.05 | -9.2% |
| Publishers Weekly Stock Index | 1,024.18 | 985.00 | -3.8% |
| Dow Jones Ave. | 18,142.42 | 19,123.58 | 5.4% |
Source: Publishers Weekly
