The Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 5.8% in April with the gains due almost entirely to Amazon. The stock price of the online giant rose by almost $50 in the month, an increase of 13.3%. Investors were impressed by the first-quarter financial performance of the company’s cloud computing division, AWS. Excluding Amazon, the share prices of the remaining 12 companies on the PWSI fell 2.6%. Barnes & Noble had the largest decline, with in its share price falling 7.8%, as investors continue to waver over the future of the retailer. John Wiley’s share price fell 7% in the month. In mid-April, the company announced that its CEO, Steve Smith, will retire June 1 due to illness and be replaced by Mark Allin.

Winners
Amazon 372.10 421.78 13.3%
Educational Dev. Corp. 4.13 4.34 5.1%
Books-A-Million 2.74 2.86 4.4%
CBS 60.63 62.13 2.5%
Losers
Barnes & Noble 23.75 21.90 -7.8%
John Wiley 61.14 56.88 -7.0%
Chegg 7.95 7.43 -6.5%
Pearson 21.61 20.24 -6.3%
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 678.00 719.74 5.8%
Dow Jones Aver. 17,776.12 17,840.52 0.3%