Led by big gains for three companies, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 12.2% in October. Educational Development Corp. had the biggest percentage increase in the month, with its stock-price jump of 29.9%. Its share price benefited from a quarterly report showing that, while sales had a small decline, profits jumped from the same quarter last year. Amazon’s share price rose 15% in the month. A strong quarterly report in which Amazon beat sales and earnings forecasts helped drive up its stock price, which added $143.93 in the month. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, whose stock price jumped 18.1% in September, gave those gains back in October, with its share prices dropping 17.8%. After peaking at $12.20 on October 2, HMH’s share price declined steadily. The 12.2% increase in the PWSI easily beat the gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was up 4.3% in the month.

Company Sep. 29 Aug. 31 % Change
Educational Dev. Corp. 9.62 12.50 29.9%
Amazon 961.35 1,105.28 15.0%
Pearson 8.14 9.28 14.0%
CBS 58.00 56.12 3.0%
John Wiley 53.50 54.65 2.1%
News Corp 13.65 13.90 1.8%
Scholastic 37.20 36.94 -0.7%
LSC 16.51 16.18 -2.0%
Barnes & Noble 7.60 7.00 -7.9%
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 12.50 9.90 -17.8%
Publishers Weekly Stock Index 1,177.62 1,321.85 12.2%
Dow Jones Aver. 22,405.09 23,377.24 4.3%