J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP): This Data’s Bad But Not the End of the World

At this point, it is hard to look at J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) and not be worried about the future. That being said, some people are doing their best to find a silver lining despite the fact that the company posted a quarterly loss of $1.17 a share on $2.66 billion in revenues earlier this week.

The reason for the optimism is simple: stores sales are on the rise (from the previous quarter) and its stock price took a leap.

So as you can see, despite the quarterly loss the end of the world has not yet come for this retailer.

According to an earlier estimate from Thomson Reuters, analysts expected a second quarter loss of $1.06 a share on $2.76 billion in revenue. Things ended up worse than this on both accounts.

Matthew Belvedere of CNBC dove into the finer details of the company’s latest earnings report, noting that at least one hedge fund manager, Kyle Bass of Hayman Capital, likes what he sees.

Bloomberg (Stephanie Ruhle) is reporting that Bass has “accumulated a long position in J.C. Penney over the past two weeks by buying the company’s secured loans.”

Back to School Season for J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP)

If J.C. Penney only has one thing going for it right now, it is the fact that we are in full swing of back to school season. Retailers like this, among many others, love this time of the year because students and parents alike flood stores to load up on items for the school year.

CEO Mike Ullman noted that the back to school season has been encouraging, however, he made note of the following:

“We’re facing headwinds of declining mall traffic. We know where the problems are, how to address them, and have the plans in place.”

Are you in the same camp as Bass, as well as George Soros, both of who are bullish on the company? Or do you think things are just going to get worse for J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) in the quarters to come?

Ullman is doing all he can to right the ship, despite being left with plenty of pieces to pick up when former CEO Ron Johnson was ousted after roughly one and a half years on the job.

The latest earnings report from J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) was bad, but not the end of the world. The next quarter, especially considering the back to school season, is a big one for the company.

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