COMPANY Dec. 31 Jun. 30 % CHANGE
The companies on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index could not escape the impact of the weak economy—only two of the 16 stocks on the PWSI posted gains in the first half of 2008. Marvel, which benefited from a strong response to Iron Man, had a 20.3% increase in its stock price in the January—June period, while John Wiley's overall strong financial performance helped lift its stock price 5.1%. Overall, however, the PWSI dropped 17.1% in the first six months, slightly worse than the decline posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. No part of the industry was immune from the falling stock market, though retailers had a particularly bad period, with Borders's stock price down the most, plunging nearly 44%. Even the once high-flying Amazon was down significantly in the period; its $19.31 decline was the largest dollar drop of stocks on the PWSI.
Source: Reed Business Information
Marvel Entertainment 26.71 32.14 20.3%
John Wiley 42.84 45.03 5.1
Educational Dev. Corp. 5.47 5.32 -2.7
McGraw-Hill Cos. 43.81 40.12 -8.4
Hastings Entertainment 9.33 8.01 -14.1
Reed Elsevier 53.90 45.55 -15.5
Pearson 14.49 12.25 -15.5
Scholastic 34.89 28.66 -17.8
Amazon 92.64 73.33 -20.8
R.R. Donnelley 37.74 29.69 -21.3
Barnes & Noble 34.45 24.84 -27.9
CBS 27.25 19.49 -28.6
Franklin Elec. Pub. 3.15 2.03 -35.5
Books-A-Million 11.92 7.66 -35.7
Courier Corp. 33.01 20.08 -39.2
Borders Group 10.65 6.00 -43.7
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 482.25 400.20 -17.0
Dow Jones
Industrial Aver. 13,264.82 11,350.01 -14.4