May was a quiet month for both the stock market and the Publishers Weekly Stock Index. The Dow rose 1% in the month, while the PWSI slipped 0.5%. Six of the 11 companies listed on the PWSI saw increases in their share prices in the month, and four saw declines. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s share price held even at $6.80. The biggest price movement in May was at LSC Communications, whose stock price dropped 25.6%. The printer’s first-quarter financial results released in the month were a huge disappointment. LSC had a loss of 32¢ per share in the quarter and even when the loss was adjusted for one-time costs, the loss came to 11¢ per share. Analysts had been looking for earnings of 17¢ per share. Educational Development Corp. reported an 82% increase in earnings in the fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2018, over fiscal 2017, but analysts were concerned that the fourth quarter appeared a little soft, resulting in the stock price falling 7% for the month.

Company April 30 May 31 Change
Scholastic 41.40 44.99 8.7%
Barnes & Noble 5.55 5.85 5.4%
Pearson 11.42 11.98 4.9%
John Wiley 65.95 67.80 2.8%
CBS 49.20 50.37 2.3%
IDW Holdings 44.84 44.89 0.1%
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 6.80 6.80 0
News Corp 15.98 15.03 -5.9%
Educational Dev. Corp. 24.30 22.60 -7.0%
B&N Education 7.19 6.34 -11.8%
LSC Communications 17.48 12.66 -25.6%
Publishers Weekly Stock Index 290.91 289.31 -0.5%
Dow Jones Avg. 24,163.15 24,415.84 1.0%