J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) sinks after president leaves following short tenure

Atlanta, GA 6/19/12 (StreetBeat) -- JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) just kicked its president — Michael Francis — to the curb in the wake of dismal sales and what appears to be a failed turnaround attempt, but the retailer is still kicking. This rebranding effort is still young and if leadership stays the course, it could still be the most interesting retailer of 2012.

Heck, it still is, it’s just not yet successful. When CEO Ron Johnson climbed on board, jcpenney was already a sinking ship. For all those screaming that Johnson is to blame for the retailer’s financial losses need only look at the declining trends of the past few years. Recession or no, jcpenney had to do something.

What Johnson did was among the most daring moves in retail history. Eliminating the constant and confusing sales, streamlining the employee base, revamping marketing collateral and embarking on an effort to turn stores into a main street — a mini-mall if you will — that would showcase new and unique merchandise from various partners was epic.

But it hasn’t been an epic fail, as fellow Forbes contributor Steve Olenski writes. Not yet. Jcpenney is certainly teetering on the brink, it could back off this strategy and try something else, but what?

Does Johnson have a choice? What else can jcpenney be?

It doesn’t want to be Macy’s (NYSE: M), with its constant sales. There’s no room for two such department stores. Macy’ doesn’t really have room for two either, juggling and differentiating Macy’s from Bloomingdales is no small task.

Nor can jcpenney be Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS), a more direct competitor than Macy’s. Former management tried that and newer jcpenney stores look so much like a Kohl’s only the lack of sale signs distinguish the two chains. These photos were taken at jcpenney and Kohl’s stores withing a mile of each other in Valporaiso, IN.

Being the same isn’t what Johnson is about. He’s about being different, something he learned at Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).

But jcpenney is a publicly traded company and he may not have much time. Differentiating is a monumental task. If Johnson and team could have developed the merchandise plan, signed on the partners and unveiled its main street concept in sync with a new marketing plan, advertising and spokesperson, it might have worked.

It still can, but Francis’ departure doesn’t bode well for jcpenney’s ability to stay the course.

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Holiday spending pushes Macy's (NYSE: M) 4Q profit higher

Orlando, FL 2/21/12 (StreetBeat) -- Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) said strong holiday and online sales helped push its fiscal fourth-quarter net income up 12 percent. The department store chain's results topped Wall Street's expectations and its stock climbed in trading before the market open.

Macy's, which runs Bloomingdale's and its namesake stores, is reaping the benefit of tailoring merchandise to local markets. It has been outperforming mid-price peers such as Kohl's Inc. and J.C. Penney Co (NYSE: JCP).

"Our year was punctuated with a terrific holiday selling season as our customers responded to our assortment of most-wanted merchandise for gifts and self-purchase, as well as compelling marketing campaigns," Chairman, President and CEO Terry Lundgren said in a statement.

Macy's stock added $1.19, or 3.3 percent, to $37.44 Tuesday morning.

Macy's earned $745 million, or $1.74 per share, for the period ended Jan 28. A year ago it earned $667 million, or $1.55 per share.

Excluding gains from the sale of store leases related to the 2006 sale of Lord & Taylor and expenses tied to some store closings, earnings were $1.70 per share.

Revenue rose 5.5 percent to $8.72 billion from $8.27 billion. Online sales, which include results from both the Macy's and Bloomingdale's web sites, jumped 40 percent.

Revenue at stores open at least a year, which includes online sales, climbed 5.2 percent. This figure is a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

The quarterly results topped the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet, who predicted earnings of $1.65 per share on revenue of $8.7 billion.

For the year, Macy's earned $1.26 billion, or $2.92 per share. That compares with earnings of $847 million, or $1.98 per share, in the previous year. Adjusted earnings were $2.88 per share.

Full-year revenue increased 5.6 percent to $26.41 billion from $25 billion. Online sales rose nearly 40 percent.

Revenue at stores open at least a year increased 5.3 percent.

The company, which has corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, expects fiscal 2012 earnings of $3.25 to $3.30 per share. Wall Street predicts $3.27 per share.

Macy's also anticipates its online sales will surpass $2 billion in 2012 and that revenue at stores open at least a year will climb about 3.5 percent.

Macy's has about 840 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.

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J.C. Penney Buys Martha Stewart Living Stake in Plan to Open Mini-Stores

Orlando, FL 12/7/11 (StreetBeat) --J.C. Penney Co. (NYSE:JCP) acquired a 17 percent stake in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE:MSO) for $38.5 million as the U.S. department-store chain seeks to revive sales with new mini stores dedicated to the brand.

J.C. Penney agreed to pay $3.50 a share for the stake, 12 percent more than Martha Stewart Living’s closing price yesterday, according to a joint statement today. The Plano, Texas-based retailer will also obtain two board seats on Martha Stewart Living’s board.

The agreement marks J.C. Penney Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson’s first strategic move since he took over in November after running Apple Inc.’s retail operations. Johnson, who helped introduce Apple’s (Nasdaq:AAPL) big-city stores, is seeking to revive sales after the department-store chain last month posted its first quarterly loss in two years as shoppers deferred purchases.

“It’s definitely outside the box of what they’ve historically done,” Liz Dunn, at analyst at Macquarie Group in New York, said in an interview. “It’s certainly interesting and points to a strategy with the new management of kind of going after different brands and better products.”

Martha Stewart Living surged 22 percent to $4.14 at 10:52 am in New York, after earlier reaching $4.30 for the biggest intraday gain since July 2004. J.C. Penney fell 0.9 percent to $33.

Lifestyle Merchandise

Martha Stewart Living will gain more than $200 million in revenue from the 10-year agreement, according to the statement. The owner of the namesake magazine and TV show is trying to boost sales growth after three years of falling revenue, and had hired Blackstone Group LP this year to help review proposals from potential investors.

The mini stores, which will sell home and lifestyle merchandise, are scheduled to begin opening in J.C. Penney stores in February 2013. The stores will have trained sales associates who can provide “educational tips.” The two companies will also develop and introduce an e-commerce site.

Since his appointment in June, Johnson has brought in Michael Francis, a former colleague at Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT), to head marketing efforts. Last month, he also announced the appointment of two former Apple executives as chief operating officer and chief talent officer.

J.C. Penney reported a net loss of $143 million, or 67 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 29 compared with profit of $44 million, or 19 cents, a year earlier, according to a statement Nov. 14. The company had last reported a loss in the quarter ended August 2009.

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LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Tomahawk, WI 8/11/2011 (PennyPayDay) – Information technology and networking giant Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) edged Wall Street's earnings expectations Wednesday, but posted a slight drop in profit for its fiscal fourth quarter.

Cisco reported adjusted earnings per share of 40 cents on sales of $11.2 billion, above analysts' expectations of earnings per share of 38 cents on sales of $10.98 billion.

Shares were surging 12.2% to $15.40 in premarket trading Thursday.

Food company Sara Lee (NYSE: SLE) reported fourth-quarter profit of 20 cents a share, meeting estimates.

Shares were falling 5% to $16.45.

Global media company News Corp. (NYSE: NWSA) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, earning 35 cents a share on revenue of $8.96 billion. Analysts were calling for a profit of 30 cents a share on revenue of $8.46 billion.

"While it has been a good quarter from a financial point of view, our company has faced challenges in recent weeks relating to our London tabloid, News of the World," CEO Rupert Murdoch said in a statement, referring to the phone hacking scandal that brought down the tabloid. "We are acting decisively in the matter and will do whatever is necessary to prevent something like this from ever occurring again."

Shares were rising 4.2% to $14.28.

Media company AOL (NYSE: AOL) said Thursday it plans to buy back $250 million of stock over the next 12 months.

Shares were rising 2.5% to $10.47 in premarket trading.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) said Thursday second-quarter profit rose 26% to $1.45 billion, but volume in the U.S., its largest market, slumped.

Analysts were expecting the world's largest brewer to post profit of $1.5 billion in the second quarter.

Shares were tumbling 2.5% to $48.50.

Department store Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) reported second-quarter profit of $1.09 a share vs. the average analyst estimate of $1.08. Shares were rising 2.1% to $45.24.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC ) has been holding talks with the principal investment funds of Kuwait and Qatar about selling part of its stake in China Construction Bank as it rushes to bolster its mortgage-scarred balance sheet, Reuters reported.

Bank of America shares were rising 0.5% to $6.80.

Department store Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) is expected to report second-quarter earnings of 74 cents a share after the markets close Thursday vs. last year's earnings of 66 cents a share.

Shares were down 0.4% to $40.

Restaurant company Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) is expected to post second-quarter profit of 5 cents a share before the markets open Thursday vs. last year's earnings of 6 cents a share.

J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) is expected to post second-quarter earnings of 7 cents a share before the markets open Friday vs. the average analyst estimate of 6 cents a share a year ago.

There are worries that the department store could face headwinds as forecasts of a slowdown in economic activity persists.

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Some LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Department store J.C. Penney reported that fourth-quarter net income grew 35.5% to $271 million, or $1.13 a share, from $200 million, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.23. Net sales increased about 3% to $5.7 billion from $5.55 billion. On average, analysts were calling for earnings of $1.08 a share on revenue of $5.7 billion. Shares of J.C. Penney were rising 1.6% to $37.15 in premarket trading Friday.

Aerospace giant Boeing was awarded a $35 billion contract by the Pentagon for an aerial refueling tanker jet. Shares of Boeing were rising 4.9% to $74.25 in premarket trading Friday.

American International Group reported net income of $11.2 billion and earnings per share of $16.60 for the fourth quarter of 2010. Shares of AIG were up 0.7% to $41.72 in premarket trading.

TV network CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to end production for the rest of the season on TV comedy Two and a Half Men because of comments star Charlie Sheen made about the show's producer. CBS was up 0.3% to $22.10.

Footwear company Deckers Outdoor reported heavy demand for its UGG brand boots. The stock was jumping 7.7% to $96.75 in premarket trading.

San Francisco-based cloud computing company Salesforce.com crushed the consensus view for its fourth-quarter results. Shares of the company were higher in premarket trading, surging 9.4% to $147.

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