With winners outnumbering losers by an 11 to 4 count, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 3.2% in February, slightly beating the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 2.7% increase. The big winners in the month were two entertainment companies, Disney and CBS, parent companies of Hyperion/Disney Children's Publishing and Simon & Schuster, respectively. Both companies enjoyed good momentum throughout the month, with CBS in particular picking up after announcing a strong fourth quarter and giving a bullish outlook for 2011. Borders Group stock sank as bankruptcy rumors mounted, and it stopped trading with its Chapter 11 filing at 23 cents. Barnes & Noble's share price, which had been benefiting from Borders's problems, dived after the company reported weaker than anticipated quarterly results.

Winners

Company Jan. 31 Feb. 28 % Change
CBS 19.83 23.86 20.3%
Disney Corp. 38.87 43.74 12.5
Scholastic 29.73 31.40 5.6
R.R. Donnelley 17.72 18.62 5.1
Books-A-Million 5.69 5.92 4.0
John Wiley 45.95 47.81 4.0

Losers

Company Jan. 31 Feb. 28 % Change
Borders Group 73 0.23 -68.5
Barnes & Noble 15.75 13.39 -15.0
Educational Dev. Corp. 6.80 6.50 -4.4
McGraw-Hill Cos. 38.98 38.68 -0.8
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 461.70 476.31 3.2
Dow Jones Aver. 11,896.93 12,226.34 2.7