J.C. Penney reported rising sales in the second quarter that beat estimates, helped by strong performance at Sephora Sephora and other key departments.
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For the latest quarter ended August 1, the company posted a loss of 45 cents on revenue of $2.88 billion.
Shares of J.C. Penney are down 9% over the last 12 months but are up 30% so far this year.
The results, announced Friday, offer encouraging signs for the Plano, Texas-based retailer, which is trying to recover from a disastrous attempt to reinvent itself under former Apple executive Ron Johnson. However, analysts were expecting a loss of $0.48 per share on revenue of $2.86 billion.
Macy’s is more dependent on worldwide tourists shopping at its stores than are Kohl’s and J.C. Penney, and for two quarters running now, it has blamed them in part for its continued sales misses.
Its same-store sales surged 4.1 percent for the quarter. Additionally, shares of JCP trade at a P/E ratio of 0.23 and have a Relative Strength Index (RSI) and MACD indicator of 43.01 and -0.02, respectively. The men’s, home and fine jewelry division also preformed well in the quarter. “Although we have significant work to do as a company to regain our status as a world-class retailer, I am pleased with the resilience and the efforts of our associates”, Chief Executive Marvin Ellison said in a statement.
Its margins rose to 37%, up slightly from 36%, driven by improvement on the margins of clearance and promotional sale items.
Penney raised its full-year earnings guidance to approximately $620 million, up from its previous $600 million estimate. It also plans to cut expenses by $120 million this year, rather than just $100 million.
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The company’s shares rose 7.6 per cent in premarket trading on Friday.
