Both the Publishers Weekly Stock Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded in February after being down in January. With 11 of the 14 stocks on the PWSI posting a gain in February, the index rose 4.3% in the month, just slightly above the 4% gain of the Dow. Barnes & Noble’s share price had the biggest gain in the month, jumping 42.1%. Investors were encouraged by B&N’s profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, despite continued problems with its Nook division. And although B&N executives dismissed a proposal to acquire a 51% stake in the company as not a serious offer, the proposal seemed to give investors the idea that another company may make a run at B&N. The biggest losers in February were Pearson and Chegg, companies that also had the biggest losses in January. Pearson had the biggest decline in its share price as disappointing fourth-quarter results and company warnings that profits will fall in 2014 put downward pressure on the stock price.

Winners
Company Jan. 31 Feb. 28 % Change
Barnes & Noble 13.48 19.16 42.1%
News Corp. 15.61 17.89 14.6
CBS 58.72 67.08 14.2
John Wiley 54.14 58.03 7.2
Scholastic 32.99 35.28 6.9
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 19.24 20.32 5.6
Losers
Pearson 18.29 17.08 -6.6
Chegg 6.67 6.30 -5.5
Books-A-Million 2.31 2.25 -2.6
Publishers Weekly Stock Index 619.92 646.84 4.3
Dow Jones Aver. 15,699.85 16,321.71 4.0

Source: Publishers