5 Things J.C. Penney Company, Inc.'s Management Wants You to Know

Last Friday, J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) reported a solid comp sales increase but sharp erosion in its profitability for the third quarter. The results weren't good, but investors had been expecting an even worse performance after J.C. Penney issued a dreadful guidance update in late October.

As a result, J.C. Penney shares surged 15% on Friday. However, the company will need to get its earnings moving in the right direction again for the stock to continue its comeback. During J.C. Penney's recent earnings call, management pointed to a number of reasons for optimism. Here are five key highlights.

Cost of goods sold for the third quarter was 66% of net sales, an increase of 320 basis points compared to the same period last year. Our decision to liquidate slow-moving inventory during the quarter accounted for slightly over 100 basis points of the increase.
-- J.C. Penney CFO Jeffrey Davis

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Source: Fool.com