Three companies on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index whose stock prices have struggled in recent months posted the best gains in February. LSC Communications’ stock price rose 6.4% in the month, helped by a relatively good fourth quarter and projections for higher sales in 2018. Pearson’s stock price was given a boost when it reported that it had hit its profit target for 2017. The U.K.-based company is also in talks to possibly sell its U.S. K–12 business. Another educational publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, saw its stock price fall 19% in the month. The decline came despite HMH posting higher sales and a lower loss in both the fourth quarter and year. Overall, the PWSI fell 5% in the month, a slightly bigger decline than the 4.3% drop of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Company Jan. 31 Feb. 28 % Change
B&N Education 6.65 7.30 9.8%
LSC 13.68 14.56 6.4%
Pearson 9.77 9.99 2.2%
John Wiley 63.40 64.25 1.3%
Barnes & Noble 4.70 4.50 -4.2%
Scholastic 38.42 36.41 -5.2%
News Corp 17.45 16.13 -7.6%
CBS 57.61 52.97 -8.0%
Educational Dev. Corp. 21.75 19.35 -11.0%
IDW Media 48.00 43.00 -11.6%
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 8.40 6.80 -19.0%
Publishers Weekly Stock Index 289.83 275.26 -5.0%
Dow Jones Aver. 26,149.39 25,029.20 -4.3%