J.C. Penney's Same-store Sales Outlook Tops Expectations

J.C. Penney Co. said on Tuesday that same-store sales are up 6% so far in its fiscal first quarter, leading the department store chain to forecast full-quarter same-store sales of 3.5% to 4.5%, which is above the FactSet consensus of 3.2%. J.C. Penney said in a regulatory filing that it was making its sales outlook public, because a senior company official "inadvertently" sent an email to a securities analyst that contained non-public information regarding same-store sales. The stock was down 1.4% in premarket trade. It has surged 45% year to date through Monday, compared with a 5.7% rise in the SPDR S&P Retail exchange traded fund and a 1.6% gain in the S&P 500 .