J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP), a leading retailer of apparel, footwear, accessories, fashion jewelry, beauty products, and home furnishings, recently reported sales results for the four-week period ended May 1, 2010.
The company’s comparable-store sales for April 2010 dropped 3.3%, after portraying an increase of 5.4% in March 2010, due to a shift in pre-Easter selling in March. Comparable-store sales had declined 6.6% in April 2009.
For the thirteen-week period, comparable-store sales climbed marginally by 1.3% compared to a decline of 7.5% in the same period last year.
After increasing 5% in March 2010, total sales for April fell 3.7% to $1,219 million from $1,266 million in the same month last year. For the thirteen-week period, total sales rose marginally by 1.2% to $3,929 million from $3,884 million in the same period last year.
The Plano, Texas-based retailer, J. C. Penney, notified that women’s accessories, shoes and handbags, and men’s items were the top-performing categories.
Based on stronger-than-expected gross margin results, J. C. Penney lifted its first-quarter 2010 earnings guidance.
J. C. Penney now forecasts first-quarter 2010 earnings at approximately 25 cents that remain in line with the current Zacks Consensus Estimate. Earlier, management had expected earnings in the range of 20 cents to 24 cents a share.
J. C. Penney currently operates 1,109 department stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company also operates one of the largest apparel and home furnishing sites, jcp.com, and general merchandise catalog business.
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