With winners outnumbering losers by 13 to eight, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 10.4% in 2006, rebounding from a 1.3% decline in 2005. The rise in the stock prices on the PWSI was aided by the overall lift in the stock market last year, including the 16.3% increase posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The biggest gainer in the year was Books-A-Million, whose stock price jumped more than 134%, driven by a solid financial performance and an aggressive stock buyback program. BAM's 2006 closing price of $22.68 per share was higher than that of Borders Group, whose stock price managed to rise 3.1%, to $22.35, despite the retailer lowering its financial projections for the year. Several companies that posted large gains in 2006 rebounded from declines in 2005, including Marvel, which was off 20% in 2005, and Scholastic, whose stock price was down nearly 23% in 2005. Pearson's stock price finally gained some traction last year, up 27.2%.
MediaBay and Advanced Marketing Services had the largest declines last year. AMS's stock price had been trading just under $3 and tumbled further after it filed Chapter 11. MediaBay's problems switching from distributing audiocassettes to digital audio downloads made it a penny-stock for most of 2006.
Industry Stocks: 2006 Performances
| Company | Dec. 30, 05 | Dec. 29, 06 | % Change |
| ¹ After a $16 special dividend | |||
| Books-A-Million | 9.69 | 22.68 | 134.1% |
| Marvel Enterprises | 16.38 | 26.91 | 64.3 |
| McGraw-Hill Cos. | 51.63 | 68.02 | 31.7 |
| Hastings Entertainment | 5.48 | 7.08 | 29.2 |
| Pearson | 11.87 | 15.10 | 27.2 |
| Scholastic | 28.51 | 35.84 | 25.7 |
| CBS | 25.52 | 31.22 | 22.3 |
| Reed Elsevier | 37.51 | 44.04 | 17.4 |
| Courier Corp. | 34.34 | 38.97 | 13.5 |
| Reader's Digest | 15.22 | 16.70 | 9.7 |
| Banta Corp. | 49.80 | 36.40¹ | 5.2 |
| R. R. Donnelley | 34.21 | 35.54 | 3.9 |
| Borders Group | 21.67 | 22.35 | 3.1 |
| John Wiley & Sons | 39.04 | 38.47 | -1.5 |
| Barnes & Noble | 42.67 | 39.71 | -6.9 |
| Edu. Development Corp. | 8.10 | 7.25 | -10.5 |
| Amazon.com | 47.15 | 39.46 | -16.3 |
| Audible | 12.84 | 7.93 | -38.2 |
| Franklin Electronic. Pub. | 3.85 | 2.10 | -45.5 |
| Advanced Marketing Svs. | 3.56 | .50 | -85.6 |
| MediaBay | 1.35 | .06 | -95.5 |
| Publishers Weekly | |||
| Stock Index | 500.39 | 552.33 | 10.4% |
| Dow Jones Aver. | 10,717.50 | 12,463.15 | 16.3% |
