Why J.C. Penney Stock Is Crashing Today

Shares of department store chain J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) tumbled on Friday after the company provided preliminary third-quarter results and dramatically cut its full-year earnings forecast. Shares of competitor Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) were also hit on the news. As of 12:45 p.m. EDT, J.C. Penney stock was down about 17.5%, while Kohl's stock was down about 5%.

J.C. Penney expects comparable-store sales to grow by 0.6% to 0.8% during the third quarter, thanks to growing appliance sales and e-commerce growth. Unfortunately for investors, the good news ends there. J.C. Penney expects to produce an adjusted loss between $0.40 and $0.45 per share, driven by the liquidation of slow-moving inventory in the women's department. Analysts were expecting a loss of just $0.18 per share.

Image source: J.C. Penney.

Source: Fool.com