With eight of the 10 companies listed on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index posting increases in their stock prices in July, the PWSI rose 5.8% in the month, beating the 2.8% increase turned in by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Educational Development Corp. had the biggest rise in its stock price, as the company recorded another record quarter in which profits jumped 89% over the first period of fiscal 2016. Barnes & Noble, which had a 30.3% increase in its stock price in the first half of 2016, had a 15.2% gain in July, as did News Corp. Amazon reported a bigger-than-expected profit in its first quarter and its stock price rose 6% in July. Pearson’s stock price had the largest decline in the month, including a 9.3% drop following the release of its disappointing six-month financial report on July 29.
| Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Jun. 30 | Jul. 29 | % Change |
| Educational Dev. Corp. | 11.61 | 13.46 | 15.9% |
| Barnes & Noble | 11.35 | 13.08 | 15.2% |
| News Corp | 11.67 | 13.44 | 15.2% |
| John Wiley | 52.18 | 57.70 | 10.6% |
| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 15.63 | 16.95 | 8.4% |
| Amazon | 715.62 | 758.81 | 6.0% |
| R.R. Donnelley | 16.92 | 17.92 | 5.9% |
| Scholastic | 39.61 | 41.10 | 3.8% |
| Losers | |||
| CBS | 54.44 | 52.22 | -4.1% |
| Pearson | 12.99 | 11.96 | -10.0% |
| Publishers Weekly Stock Index | 942.99 | 996.37 | 5.8% |
| Dow Jones Aver. | 17,929.99 | 18,432.24 | 2.8% |
Source: Publishers Weekly
