J.C. Penney Shares Sink After Sales Miss

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. shares sank 7.3% in Friday premarket trading after the retailer reported a third-quarter sales miss. THe company had a net loss of $67 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with a loss of $115 million, or 38 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted loss per share was 21 cents, in line with the FactSet consensus. Sales totaled $2.86 billion, down from $2.90 billion last year and below the $2.95 billion FactSet estimate. Same-store sales declined 0.8%, below the 2.2% increase FactSet forecast. J.C. Penney expects positive adjusted EPS for full-year 2016 and same-store sales up 1% to 2%. The FactSet consensus expects full-year EPS of 14 cents and same-store sales growth of 2.2%. J.C. Penney shares are up 32.3% for the year so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 6% for the same period.