Company December 31 January 31 % Change
Uncertain economic conditions drove down the Publishers Weekly Stock Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average by virtually the same amount in January, with the PWSI falling 3.5% and the Dow 3.4%. Seventeen of the 22 companies included on the PWSI had a decline in their stock price in the month and only five companies showed a gain. Advanced Marketing Services, which reported a weak third quarter, took the biggest hit in the month as its stock price fell 25.2%. (AMS announced last week that its board had authorized the repurchase of an additional 325,000 shares.) Disappointing third-quarter results drove down Reader's Digest's stock price by 14.7% to $12.88, just eight cents above its 52-week low. Soft retail holiday sales was a major factor in dropping the stock price of every bookstore chain on the PWSI. Conversely, the strong online results over the holidays pushed up Amazon.com's stock price 15.7% in the month to $21.85, although Barnes & Noble.com's stock price fell 11.3%, to $1.02. Riding the wave of continued strong sales, Educational Development Corp.'s stock price finished January at a 52-week high of $9.16.
Source: Reed Business Information
Winners
Amazon.com 18.89 21.85 15.7%
Educational Dev. Corp. 8.15 9.16 12.4
Thomas Nelson 10.02 10.10 0.8
Losers
Advanced Marketing Services 14.70 11.00 -25.2%
Reader's Digest 15.10 12.88 -14.7
Hastings Entertainment 4.91 4.35 -11.4
Reed plc 35.03 31.55 -9.9
Leapfrog 25.99 24.32 -6.4
Borders Group 16.10 15.15 -5.9
Barnes & Noble 18.07 17.40 -3.7
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 404.13 390.09 -3.5%
Dow Jones Average 8,341.63 8,053.81 -3.4%