Company January 31 February 28 % Change
The Publishers Weekly Stock Index plummeted 7.4% in February as losers out-numbered gainers by a count of 16 to six. The decline in the PWSI was much more severe than the drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 2%. The biggest loser in the month was Scholastic whose stock price has been in a free fall since it announced on February 10 that results for fiscal 2003 would not meet expectations. Its closing price on February 28 of $23.46 per share was a 52-week low. Another company whose stock price was at a 52-week low at the end of the month was Pearson, whose stock closed at $7.72. Investors also continue to be negative on the prospects for Reader's Digest and drove its stock price down 16.1% in February to $10.81 per share, a price just above its 52-week low. The only meaningful increase in the month was at Educational Development Corp., whose stock price rose 6.4% in February and is up nearly 20% for the first two months of 2003.
Source: Reed Business Information
Winners
Educational Development Corp. 9.16 9.75 6.4%
Barnes & Noble 17.40 17.63 1.3
Courier Corp. 45.07 45.61 1.2
Losers
Scholastic 35.62 23.46 -34.1%
Reader's Digest 12.88 10.81 -16.1
R.R. Donnelley 21.55 18.26 -15.3
Pearson 9.02 7.72 -14.4
Thomas Nelson 10.10 9.27 -8.2
Leapfrog 24.32 22.61 -7.0
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 390.09 361.01 -7.4%
Dow Jones Average 8,053.81 7,891.08 -2.0%