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% |
