AAP June 2024 StatShot Report: Overall Publishing Industry Up 6.2% for Month of June, and Up 5.6% Year-To-Date

FY23 third quarter service performance scores covering April 1 through April 21, included: *First-Class Mail: 91.6% of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal second quarter. *Marketing Mail: 95.8% of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter. *Periodicals: 87.9% of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter.

Unit sales of print books fell 8.9% in the first quarter, which ended April 2, from the same period in 2021, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The decline was expected, as first-quarter sales in 2021 soared 29.2% over the first period in 2020. Unit sales were 183.9 million in the most recent quarter, down from 201.9 million a year ago, but they were still up about 16% over the first quarter of 2020, when sales began to soften due to pandemic-related lockdowns. The only category to post a meaningful increase in the quarter was adult fiction. Colleen Hoover and fellow BookTok favorite Taylor Jenkins Reid were the big winners. Hoover’s It Ends with Us sold more than 400,000 copies in the first quarter, making it #1 on the category list, while Verity, with 312,000 copies sold, and Reminders of Him, with about 235,000 copies sold, were in second and fifth place, respectively, on the adult fiction chart.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. announced net income of $59 million and earnings per diluted share of $0.64 for the three months ended July 31, 2022. For the six months ended July 31, 2022, net income was $91 million and earnings per diluted share were $0.96. Total Company net sales for the three months ended July 31, 2022, increased 2.2% over the same period last year to a record $1.18 billion. Total Retail segment net sales increased 1%, with comparable Retail segment net sales also increasing 1%. The increase in Retail segment comparable net sales was driven by low single-digit positive digital channel sales, while retail store sales were flat. By brand, comparable Retail segment net sales increased 8% at the Free People Group and 7% at the Anthropologie Group and decreased 9% at Urban Outfitters. Wholesale segment net sales increased 1%, driven by a 4% increase in Free People Group wholesale sales, partially offset by a decline in Urban Outfitters wholesale sales. Nuuly segment net sales increased by $18.8 million driven by a significant increase in our subscribers.