JCPENNEY STOCK DROPS DESPITE MIXED FINANCIAL RESULTS

National retailer JCPenney delivered mixed financial news as it delivered lower quarterly earnings, but strong same store sales. Nonetheless, Penney’s stock was trading just below $8 per share early Friday, a steep drop from its $8.96 high.

Total revenue rose for the quarter to $2.9 billion from $2.76 billion, a sign that the struggling Texas-based chain was making some progress in its efforts to turnaround its business.

Penney posted a fiscal third-quarter loss of 47 cents per share, far less than it had in third quarter 2014 and lower than the industry expectation of 55 cents a share. On the plus side, comparable-store sales grew by 6.4 percent for the quarter, which was much better than expected by both analysts and recently-installed CEO Marvin Ellison.

Like many of its department store competitors, Penney has a lot of inventory to unload during the fourth quarter, due to unseasonable weather.