Best Thing Ron Johnson's Done for JCPenney (JCP)? Being Rumored to Leave...
Shares of JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) are slumping Wednesday, giving up a 4 percent gain realized Tuesday on market chatter.
It's hard to argue that the best thing the CEO Ron Johnson has done for JCPenney stock over the last year has lent his name to rumors that his job was in jeopardy. The WSJ reported last week that JCPenney might consider a sale of the company or ousting Johnson as CEO should the current sales slide no reverse before the end of the year.
In February, JCPenney reported both a 30 percent drop in sales and comps. When Johnson took over as CEO last year, he said that there would be some pain associated with the turnaround...but this might be a little more pain than most investors were anticipating.
Shares are currently down just under 3 percent on the session, trading near $15. At the same time last year, JCPenney was going for about $37 to $38 per share, indicating a 60 percent drop in share price and billions of market cap erased.
During interviews last month, Johnson, once a wunderkind at Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) with its retail strategy, said that he might renege on initial plans to cut-out discounting and switch to an "everyday low price" model. Johnson misinterpreted the customer base at JCPenney and has since restarted couponing plans again.
Johnson has also been accused of being a floundering CEO, working less than most while continuing to trim headcount.
While Johnson's track record suggests he's more than capable of leading a rise in retail sales, the bigger question becomes whether or not he'll be given enough time to prove it again?
It's hard to argue that the best thing the CEO Ron Johnson has done for JCPenney stock over the last year has lent his name to rumors that his job was in jeopardy. The WSJ reported last week that JCPenney might consider a sale of the company or ousting Johnson as CEO should the current sales slide no reverse before the end of the year.
In February, JCPenney reported both a 30 percent drop in sales and comps. When Johnson took over as CEO last year, he said that there would be some pain associated with the turnaround...but this might be a little more pain than most investors were anticipating.
Shares are currently down just under 3 percent on the session, trading near $15. At the same time last year, JCPenney was going for about $37 to $38 per share, indicating a 60 percent drop in share price and billions of market cap erased.
During interviews last month, Johnson, once a wunderkind at Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) with its retail strategy, said that he might renege on initial plans to cut-out discounting and switch to an "everyday low price" model. Johnson misinterpreted the customer base at JCPenney and has since restarted couponing plans again.
Johnson has also been accused of being a floundering CEO, working less than most while continuing to trim headcount.
While Johnson's track record suggests he's more than capable of leading a rise in retail sales, the bigger question becomes whether or not he'll be given enough time to prove it again?