JC Penney's Pending Q4 To Prove Turnaround?

J C Penney Co Inc JCP gets to show investors whether its turnaround story is on track when it posts fourth-quarter results Thursday.

The retailer's shares are up more than 38 percent year-to-date, and closed Wednesday at $8.99, up by a dime.

Chief Executive Myron E. Ullman III said last month that the recent holiday season was "instrumental" in the company's turnaround effort.

Penney hired Ullman in October following the difficult, one-year reign of Ron Johnson.

Penney shares have performed well enough recently, but their value is still a far cry from 2012, when the shares were trading at more than $42.

The company pleased investors last month with news that same-store sales in the nine weeks ended December 31 grew by 3.7 percent, compared with the same period a year earlier.

Ullman also predicted last month that fourth-quarter same-store sales will grow between 2 percent and 4 percent from a year earlier.

Wall Street is looking for fourth-quarter earnings of $0.11 a share, the same as a year ago, on revenue growth of 2.4 percent to $3.87 billion.

JC Penney has posted losses in each of the first three quarters of 2014.