J.C. Penney Stock Comes Back Roaring

Shares of struggling department store chain J.C. Penney was on fire in Friday trading after reporting its quarterly report that smashed expectations.

Shares were climbing over 17% by mid morning on Friday after the company reported that it saw an increase in quarterly same-store sales that was bigger than anticipated.

For the quarter, J.C. Penney reported a net loss of 33 cents. The forecast had been for a net loss of 43 cents.

Revenue at $2.81 billion was higher than the $2.77 billion expected. Same store sales saw a growth of 1.7% compared to the 0.5% growth expected by analysts.

CEO Marvin Ellison stated, “During the third quarter, we took aggressive actions to clear slow-moving inventory, primarily allowing for an improved apparel assortment heading in to the Holiday season.”

“While these actions had a negative short-term impact on profitability in the third quarter, we firmly believe it was the right decision for the Company as we transition into the fourth quarter and fiscal 2018.”

Looking ahead the company sees adjusted EPS in the range of 2 to 8 cents with full-year same store sales to be flat.

It was last week that J.C. Penney announced it’s chief merchandising officer was leaving the company and that there would be no replacement.

The stock is still down over 60% after the gains on Friday.

Disclaimer: We have no position in J C Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) and have not been compensated for this article.