J.C. Penney Company Inc. Fourth Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) will unveil its latest earnings on Friday, February 24, 2012. J. C. Penney is a holding company that offers merchandise and services to consumers through department stores and direct (Internet/catalog) channels.

J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for profit of 67 cents per share, a decline of 38.5% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $1.03. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at 67 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 23.9% compared to last year’s $1.21.

Past Earnings Performance: The company has beaten estimates the last four quarters and is coming off a quarter where it topped forecasts by 30 cents, reporting net income of 18 cents per share against a mean estimate of a loss of 12 cents per share.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts are projecting a decline of 3.5% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $5.5 billion.

Analyst Ratings: With five analysts rate analysts rating the stock a buy, three rate rating it as a sell, and four rate rating it a hold, analysts are bullish on the stock.

A Look Back: In the third quarter, the company swung to a loss of $143 million (67 cents a share) from a profit of $44 million (19 cents) a year earlier, but beat analyst expectations. Revenue fell 4.8% to $3.99 billion from $4.19 billion.

Key Stats:

J.C. Penney Company reported a loss in the last quarter, which followed three quarters of profit. The company reported a profit of $14 million in the second quarter, a profit of $64 million in the first and a profit of $271 million in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

Revenue has slipped in the last two quarters. In the second quarter, the figure fell 0.8%.

Stock Price Performance: Between November 21, 2011 and February 17, 2012, the stock price rose $11.67 (37.6%), from $31.01 to $42.68. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between November 25, 2011 and December 5, 2011, when shares rose for seven straight days, increasing 13.2% (+$3.88) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between November 11, 2011 and November 25, 2011 when shares fell for 10 straight days, dropping 12.7% (-$4.28) over that span.

(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Hoffman at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com