Three companies on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index whose stock prices have struggled in recent months posted the best gains in February. LSC Communications’ stock price rose 6.4% in the month, helped by a relatively good fourth quarter and projections for higher sales in 2018. Pearson’s stock price was given a boost when it reported that it had hit its profit target for 2017. The U.K.-based company is also in talks to possibly sell its U.S. K–12 business. Another educational publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, saw its stock price fall 19% in the month. The decline came despite HMH posting higher sales and a lower loss in both the fourth quarter and year. Overall, the PWSI fell 5% in the month, a slightly bigger decline than the 4.3% drop of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
| Company | Jan. 31 | Feb. 28 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| B&N Education | 6.65 | 7.30 | 9.8% |
| LSC | 13.68 | 14.56 | 6.4% |
| Pearson | 9.77 | 9.99 | 2.2% |
| John Wiley | 63.40 | 64.25 | 1.3% |
| Barnes & Noble | 4.70 | 4.50 | -4.2% |
| Scholastic | 38.42 | 36.41 | -5.2% |
| News Corp | 17.45 | 16.13 | -7.6% |
| CBS | 57.61 | 52.97 | -8.0% |
| Educational Dev. Corp. | 21.75 | 19.35 | -11.0% |
| IDW Media | 48.00 | 43.00 | -11.6% |
| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 8.40 | 6.80 | -19.0% |
| Publishers Weekly Stock Index | 289.83 | 275.26 | -5.0% |
| Dow Jones Aver. | 26,149.39 | 25,029.20 | -4.3% |
