Company Apr. 30 May 29 % Change
May was truly a mixed month for the Publishers Weekly Stock Index with the stock prices rising at eight companies and falling at eight. The overall 1.3% increase for the PWSI was lower than that 4.1% posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The big winner in May was Franklin Electronic Publishers, which jumped 25% even before word of a takeover effort came down June 1, which more than doubled the stock price to over $2 per share last week. Books-A-Million's stock price benefited from a relatively strong first quarter when it reported increases in sales and earnings. Declines in first- quarter results at Borders and Barnes & Noble contributed to a drop in their stock prices in May. After a steady runup for most of the year, Amazon's stock price slipped back in the month.
Source: Reed Business Information
Winners
Franklin Elec. Pub. 0.80 1.00 25.0%
Books-A-Million 5.74 7.03 22.5
R.R. Donnelley 11.65 13.48 15.7
Hastings Ent. 3.58 4.10 14.5
Marvel Ent. 29.84 33.18 11.2
Losers
John Wiley 33.90 31.61 -6.7
Barnes & Noble 26.12 24.71 -5.4
Educational Dev. Corp. 5.70 5.50 -3.5
Amazon 80.52 77.99 -3.1
Borders Group 2.73 2.67 -2.2
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 313.14 317.21 1.3
Dow Jones Aver. 8,168.12 8,500.33 4.1