J.C. Penney: Perfect Storm
Yesterday, J.C. Penney (JCP) reported its fourth-quarter fiscal earnings (ended Feb. 2, 2013) and it was like some kind of perfect storm, sweeping hapless investors out to sea and battering the coastline. If management cannot right the ship soon, concerns about the company's balance sheet are going to push this stock into the single digits.
When you look at the press release you feel like the Governor surveying a disaster zone. Yeah, it's that bad. There's wreckage everywhere. JCP missed fourth-quarter estimates by $1.78 a share. The fourth-quarter was a total loss. The company reported a loss of $1.95 a share on revenue of just $3.88 billion, down 28.4%. By my calculation, that's the lowest level of fourth-quarter sales since the 1980s. Even sales on JCP.com were down 34.4%. How did that happen? I can understand consumers not shopping the stores, but customers wouldn't even buy on the company's website. And that was during the holidays! Holy cow, do these guys have problems....208 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
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