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% |
Industry Stocks: January Performances
Feb 10, 2003
A version of this article appeared in the 02/10/2003 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: