Advertisement
U.S. markets closed
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow 30

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Russell 2000

    2,124.55
    +10.20 (+0.48%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Silver

    25.10
    +0.18 (+0.74%)
     
  • EUR/USD

    1.0794
    -0.0035 (-0.32%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2625
    -0.0013 (-0.10%)
     
  • USD/JPY

    151.4520
    +0.2060 (+0.14%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,724.77
    +1,305.32 (+1.88%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Nikkei 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     

J.C. Penney: No News Is Bad News

When the Black Friday weekend shopping craze ended, J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) did not waste any time announcing that same-store sales for the month of November had jumped 10.1% year-over-year. The company reported the rise on the Monday after the weekend, well ahead other retailers that reported -- as scheduled -- on the following Thursday.

The month of December has been in the books since last Thursday and we still have not heard a peep from J.C. Penney about its same-store sales for the month. Given the company’s eagerness to post November’s good news, a logical conclusion is that it would be just as eager to post good news for December.

ALSO READ: The Best and Worst Run Cities in America

But what if the news isn’t good? J.C. Penney’s same-store sales fell more than 30% in the fourth quarter of 2012, so the bar was not very high. Research firm Retail Metrics has estimated last month’s same-store sales rose 5.3% at J.C. Penney. That’s not terrific, but it is not awful either, especially given a relatively low overall expectation for same-store sales to rise just 2.6%.

ALSO READ: America's Favorite Basketball Teams

Investors are not losing any time dumping the stock though. Shares are down 4.6% late Tuesday afternoon at $8.26 in a 52-week range of $6.24 to $23.10. Share volume is about 10 million shares below the average daily volume of nearly 35 million.

Related Articles

Advertisement