J.C. Penney Down 15% Pre-Market on Weak Earnings, Outlook

J.C. Penney Company JCP is trading lower pre-market followings its Q1 earnings announcement yesterday after the close. The company reported an EPS of $(0.25) vs $(0.10) estimates and sales of $3.15 billion vs $3.46 billion estimates. J.C. Penney also announced it will discontinue its dividend. Ron Johnson, chief executive officer of jcpenney said: "Sales and profitability have been tougher than anticipated during the first 13 weeks, but the transformation is ahead of schedule. Customers love the new jcp they discover in our stores. Our shop strategy has been applauded by vendor and design partners, our merchants have stepped up to the challenge of improving our merchandise and presentation, we have dramatically simplified our business model and reorganized our teams at headquarters and in our stores." J.C. Penney is currently trading at $28.10, down $5.22 or 15.67% pre-market.