J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Earnings: Better Than Feared

Investors didn't have much hope for J.C. Penney's (NYSE: JCP) third-quarter earnings report after the department store operator released a dreadful financial update in late October. In it, J.C. Penney acknowledged that getting rid of old inventory and transitioning to a new women's apparel assortment was tougher than expected. As a result, it slashed its full-year guidance for gross margin, earnings per share, and free cash flow.

However, on Friday, J.C. Penney reported that its third-quarter results weren't quite as bad as its recent guidance update had suggested. The company still didn't have a good quarter, but it is in better shape to survive the current period of retail turmoil than many investors seem to think.

In last month's update, J.C. Penney projected that comparable store sales increased 0.6% to 0.8% during the third quarter. In the end, the company's revenue trend was even better, as comp sales rose 1.7% in Q3. According to CFO Jeff Davis, the discrepancy was driven by strong sales during a promotional event held on the last weekend of the quarter.

Source: Fool.com