J.C. Penney Stock ‘A Disaster’: Kernkraut
Online Producer
Despite J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson's best efforts, the retailer's shares have very little going for them, Durban Capital's Steve Kernkraut said Thursday.
"It's been a disaster, and it probably will continue to be a disaster," he said on CNBC's "Fast Money." "They've made every misstep you could imagine."
Kernkraut said that Johnson was taking one step in the right direction.
"The only signs of light you have is that he's getting more realistic where he's added promotions now in the last 30 days," he said.
But walking through the store shows that "the stores are empty," Kernkraut added. "They don't have compelling merchandise."
Kernkraut also dismissed the company's positive numbers as spin.
"They showed numbers at their last meeting showing that the sales doubled in their new J.C. Penney vs. the old J.C. Penney," he said. "Those are kind of cooked-up numbers that aren't realistic."
The company touted $260 in sales per square foot of retail space, but Kernkraut noted that Macy's generates less than $200 per square foot.
Challenges remained for the company, having gone from $20 billion in sales to $13 billion in 2012, Kernkraut said, posing a couple of questions.
"But can they make money if they have this everyday low price? And now they're discounting 30 percent. Are you going to make enough gross margin to make money and generate the cash that you need?"
