JCP - J.C. Penney Follows Sears' Path to Irrelevance (and Maybe Oblivion)
Consumers and investors seem to want struggling, well-known retail brands to make a comeback. That's why Sears (OTC: SHLDQ) constantly got favorable headlines for results that were terrible. The company would find a couple of positive metrics in an otherwise dismal report, and the stock would jump -- for at least a few hours.
That's what's happening with J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP). The company posted awful third-quarter results, but narrowed its loss, and investors pushed the stock higher (at least for a little while). It's easy to understand why people want the classic brand to survive, but very little in its report suggests it will.
J.C. Penney continues to lose customers and sales. Image source: J.C. Penney.