Investing.com – Shares in JC Penney (NYSE:JCP) tumbled in pre-market trade Friday after the troubled department store chain slashed its 2017 earnings forecast.
JC Penney explained that it had sold off stagnant inventory at large discounts and thus cut its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings-per-share to $0.02 to $0.08 from the prior range of $0.40 to $0.65.
“With a sharper and more disciplined focus on inventory management, we are taking a comprehensive approach to assessing the effectiveness of our inventory positions to make swift, informed decisions that promote faster inventory turn and higher productivity levels,” the company explained in a press release.
“Therefore, in the third quarter, we took the necessary steps to accelerate inventory liquidation primarily across all apparel divisions, which increases available funding to invest in new and trending merchandise categories,” the retailer added.
The firm plans to release its third quarter earnings on November 10.
At 7:31AM ET (11:31GMT), shares slumped 18.47% to $2.98 in pre-market trade.