JC Penney needs to address several challenges following the departure of CEO Ron Johnson, Macquarie Capital's Liz Dunn said Monday on CNBC.
The company announced after the stock market's close that it would name former CEO Mike Ullman as an interim replacement.
(Read More: Mike Ullman Rejoins JCP as CEO)
"I don't think that they can simply return to the old strategy and all will be well," Dunn said on "Fast Money." "They've got some big questions to answer, and I think that the release sort of hinted to that when Ullman said he's got some work to do to figure out what's even salvageable."
(Read More: Don't Jump Into JCP Stock: Pros)
Dunn said that the retailer was locked into some of Johnson's initiatives.
"I don't think they can walk away from the strategy because they've dramatically reduced inventory," she said. "They can't commit more capital to building that inventory back up, and I think they've made commitments to some of these new brands, who've opened shops and committed their own capital. So I think they need to, in some way, proceed forward with the shops."
(Watch: JC Peney's Ullman to Make $1 Million: Filing)
Dunn characterized JC Penney's challenges as tough.
(Read More: JC Penney Board Can't Be 'Delusional': Ex-CEO Allen Questrom)
"There's no white knight to come fix this story at this point," she said. "I think it's going to be hard going from here, and I think we can probably expect Penney's to continue to give up market share. Some of that seems to have gone to Macy's, maybe some to the off-price channel and others. It doesn't look like Kohl's really picked any up during Penney's worse year."
But the company will survive, Dunn added.
"I don't think they're going to get back the $4 billion in losses, in lost sales that happened in 2012, but I do think we'll see some return to positive comps and probably a strategy that keeps them as a going concern for the foreseeable future," she said.
(Read More: JCP 'Could Fail Very Quickly': Cohen)
Trader disclosure: On April 8, 2013, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Brian Kelly is long TREASURIES; Brian Kelly is long US DOLLARS; Brian Kelly is long GOLD; Brian Kelly is long SILVER; Pete Najarian is long AAPL; Pete Najarian is long BAC CALLS; Pete Najarian is long JPM CALLS; Pete Najarian is long INTC CALLS; Pete Najarian is long BBRY; Pete Najarian is long SBUX; Pete Najarian is long FB; Pete Najarian is long MSFT; Pete Najarian is long AMZN CALLS; Pete Najarian is long CROX ; Pete Najarian is long DAC CALLS; Pete Najarian is long SU CALS; Pete Najarian is long PSX CALLS; Pete Najarian is long TRN CALLS; Pete Najarian is long HUN CALLS; Tim Seymour is long AAPL; Tim Seymour is long BAC; Tim Seymour is long INTC; Tim Seymour is long WMT; Tim Seymour is long SBUX; Steve Grasso is long AAPL; Steve Grasso is long ACI; Steve Grasso is long ASTM; Steve Grasso is long BA; Steve Grasso is long BAC; Steve Grasso is long GDX; Steve Grasso is long HPQ; Steve Grasso is long LF; Steve Grasso is long LNG; Steve Grasso is long MHY; Steve Grasso is long PXD; Steve Grasso is long NVIV; Steve Grasso is long PFE; Steve Grasso is long S; Steve Grasso is funds long AAPL; Steve Grasso is funds long MSFT; Steve Grasso is funds long T; Steve Grasso is funds long HPQ; Steve Grasso is funds long ZNGA; Steve Grasso is funds long PG; Steve Grasso is funds long UAL.
