Today’s Research Reports on Stocks to Watch: J. C. Penney Company and The Gap
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 5, 2018 / Investors showed concern last week for J.C. Penney as the company has cut many jobs and revealed a lackluster outlook for the year. The concern overpowered the fact that the retailer reported fourth quarter results that were in line with estimates. Shares of The Gap were soaring on Friday after reporting stellar fourth quarter results, beating on both the top and bottom line.
RDI Initiates Coverage on:
J. C. Penney Company, Inc.
https://rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=JCP
The Gap, Inc.
https://rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=GPS
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. shares closed down 5.36% this past Friday on about 47 million shares compared to an average of just about 16 million shares. The struggling retailer has slashed many jobs and reported disappointing sales at its established stores during the holiday quarter, as well as a mediocre outlook. According to the company, the job cuts will allow J.C. Penney to save $20 to $25 million a year. Earnings for the fourth quarter was $254 million, or 81 cents a share. Adjusted earnings for one-time gains and costs were 57 cents. Analysts had been waiting for 45 cents. Revenue of $4.03 billion was in line with what analysts had expected. For the full year, the company expects earnings in the range of 5 to 25 cents with same store sales flat to up 2%. Analysts were looking for EPS of 20 cents and same store sales to be up 0.7%. Analyst Randal Konik of Jefferies wrote on Friday that J.C. Penney "is taking necessary steps to effectuate its turnaround and is seeing some traction with its various initiatives, but we remain cautious given a challenged department store environment and risks involved in a retail turnaround."
Access RDI's J. C. Penney Company, Inc. Research Report at:
https://rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=JCP
The Gap, Inc. shares closed up 7.82% on about 16.5 million shares traded on Friday. The retailer was a big gainer after posting its fourth quarter earnings report. Gap reported higher than expected revenue as well as adjusted earnings per share. The company's same-store sales growth also came in a lot higher than analysts had expected and had traders cheering. Gap reported adjusted earnings of $0.63 per share. In comparison analysts had been waiting for $0.58. Revenue at $4.78 billion was also higher than the $4.67 billion that analysts expected. Global same-store sales saw a growth of 5% YOY. Analysts had only been calling for a growth of 1.7%. CEO Art Peck remarked, "Our strong positive comp and margin expansion during the critical holiday quarter affirms our balanced growth strategy." Looking ahead the company expects earnings per share in the range of $2.55 and $2.70 for full-year 2018. Analysts were looking for $2.34 a share. The company has also said that same store sales in fiscal 2018 is expected to be "flat to up slightly." Peck optimistically said, "Our outlook for 2018 demonstrates confidence in our strategy and a meaningful step up in earnings capacity for the company."
Access RDI's The Gap, Inc. Research Report at:
https://rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=GPS
Our Actionable Research on J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) and The Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GPS) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.
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SOURCE: RDInvesting.com
