The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose by similar amounts in April, with the Dow ahead 4.8% and the PWSI up 4.3%. The stock prices of nine companies on the PWSI rose in the month while prices declined at four. Barnes & Noble’s stock price continued to be the most volatile in the publishing and bookselling industries. After falling 31% in February, the price rose 19.6% in April as investors try to figure out if B&N is a dying bricks-and-mortar bookstore chain or a print/digital bookstore poised for big growth. Investors have no doubts about Amazon, as the stock price of the e-tailer ran up over $15 in the month. While Wall Street tends to frown on companies that make large investments in their operations, investors seemed to accept Amazon’s argument made in discussing first-quarter results that investments now will pay off in a big way in the future.
Winners
Company | Mar. 31 | Apr. 29 | % Change |
---|---|---|---|
Barnes & Noble | 9.19 | 10.99 | 19.6% |
Books-A-Million | 4.13 | 4.62 | 11.9 |
Amazon | 180.13 | 195.81 | 8.7 |
Pearson | 17.80 | 19.05 | 7.0 |
Hastings Ent. | 4.76 | 4.98 | 4.6 |
Losers
Educational Dev. Corp. | 6.00 | 5.80 | -3.3 |
---|---|---|---|
Scholastic | 27.04 | 26.28 | -2.8 |
Courier Corp. | 13.96 | 13.70 | -1.9 |
R.R. Donnelley | 18.92 | 18.86 | -0.3 |
Publishers Weekly | |||
Stock Index | 475.17 | 495.60 | 4.3 |
Dow Jones Aver. | 12,319.73 | 12,810.54 | 4.8 |