J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that missed analysts' expectations, as it continues to grapple with the overhang of unsold merchandise.
As fast fashion brands like Zara have trained shoppers to shop new styles more frequently, retailers like Penney have struggled to build a supply chain to support quick inventory changes and to gather the data needed to anticipate what will be on trend.
J.C. Penney reduced its outlook for fiscal 2018 as it now expects same-store sales to be roughly flat and to post an adjusted loss per share $1 to 80 cents.
Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Davis said Thursday that the department store has "changed its approach to inventory management from 'buying to store capacity' to 'buying and chasing' into demonstrated sales trends." It is once again slashing the prices of products that have not sold.
J.C. Penney reported fiscal fourth-quarter net loss of $101 million, or 32 cents per share, more than double its loss of $48 million, or 15 cents cents per share a year earlier.
Excluding items, J.C. Penney lost 38 cents per share, worse than the loss of six cents per share expected by analysts.
Net sales declined 7.5% to $2.76 billion, missing expectations of $2.86 billion.
The earnings are the first since CEO Marvin R. Ellison announced his resignation this spring, to head to the same position at Lowe's.
Shares darted lower 63 cents, or 25.9%, to $1.78
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