J. C. Penney Whiffs on Revenues

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

J. C. Penney (NYS: JCP) reported earnings on Nov. 9. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Oct. 27 (Q3), J. C. Penney whiffed on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue contracted significantly and GAAP loss per share shrank.


Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
 J. C. Penney tallied revenue of $2.93 billion. The 17 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for a top line of $3.27 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 27% lower than the prior-year quarter's $3.99 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at -$0.93. The eight earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged -$0.06 per share. GAAP EPS were -$0.56 for Q3 against -$0.67 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 32.5%, 490 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -4.2%, 660 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -4.2%, 60 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $4.55 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.16.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $13.96 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.54.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 624 members out of 947 rating the stock outperform, and 323 members rating it underperform. Among 254 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 160 give J. C. Penney a green thumbs-up, and 94 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on J. C. Penney is hold, with an average price target of $27.00.

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The article J. C. Penney Whiffs on Revenues originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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