Free Republic

There are widespread reports today of JCPenney stores to be closing. There has been no announcement of the exact list. There is one report of 40 stores closing soon after 30 some closed in 2014. Oddly, the company just reported sales growth in the holiday period vs. the previous year, generating a number of positive news stories.

J.C. Penney’s stock hit a 13-year low Wednesday as investors grow increasingly concerned about the future of the 112 year old iconic American retailer. Shares plunged more than 15% at one point and briefly dipped below $10 a share — a level they have not touched since November 2000. Several analysts are predicting that J.C. Penney did not have a good back to school shopping season, and that sales continued to plummet in late August and early September. Investors had already been spooked by reports that J.C. Penney might be seeking to raise more cash through the sale of new...

J.C. Penney Co. (JCP -3.07%) forecast a sharper-than-expected decline in fiscal first-quarter sales, citing the effect of former Chief Executive Ron Johnson's strategies to turn around the struggling department-store operator. For the quarter ended Saturday, the company said it expects to post sales of roughly $2.64 billion, a 16% drop from the prior year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect sales of $2.74 billion, or a 13% decline. Same-store sales were estimated to be down 16.6%, after falling 18.9% a year earlier.

J.C. Penney Co. says it is laying off 350 more workers at its headquarters in Plano as the department store struggles to transform its business under a new CEO. The cuts, announced Tuesday, follow the company's move in April to eliminate 600 workers at its headquarters.

Call it J.C Penney’s private flash crash. The stock today plunged 19.7% to close at $26.57. That’s even worse than Black Monday 1987. On that day, the stock lost a hair less, 19.2%. It’s unclear if this is the stock’s worst day ever. (Perhaps it suffered an even worse day during the 1930s.) However, it is clear that this is the worst single-day performance in the past 40 years. That’s as far back as our FactSet data goes.*