Following the company’s first-quarter earnings report after markets closed on Wednesday, shares of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) gained more than 2% in after-hours trading. After a good night’s sleep, investors sent the stock plunging nearly 8% once the opening bell rang on Thursday.

The numbers hadn’t changed, but the way investors were looking at those numbers surely did. The stock’s price has little to do with what the company actually does and a lot to do with what people either hope or think the company will do … someday. It did not happen on CEO Mike Ullman’s watch, however. Ullman becomes executive chairman of J.C. Penney’s board on August 1 and CEO-in-waiting Marvin Ellison takes over. The latest results were good enough to let Ullman leave on a high note.

The numbers were not good enough for analysts and investors to say that J.C. Penney has turned around. To be fair, retailers as a group are getting hammered these days. Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) performed poorly in the first quarter, and a dividend boost together with an increase in the buyback pool has not stopped the share price from falling. Macy’s missed on revenue and profit estimates Wednesday and same-store sales comparisons were negative.

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) also reported earnings Thursday morning, and it missed revenue estimates although it beat on profits. Same-store sales were up just 1.4%, another indication of weakness. Shares were pounded Thursday morning, down more than 11% at one point.

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Wednesday’s Census Bureau report on retail sales at department stores was not encouraging, and even though workers are receiving slightly better wages, they are not spending it. That is not necessarily bad news for J.C. Penney, but the store has not yet shown that it knows how to separate consumers from more of their cash.

The company seems to think that it can come up with a formula that will appeal to consumers Ullman identified as “Middle America” in Wednesday’s release. J.C. Penney is unwilling, it seems, to close more stores, and we have argued elsewhere that J.C. Penney’s debt service costs are high and that the company should just bite the bullet and close the stores.

J.C. Penney stock traded down nearly 5% in the noon hour Thursday, at $8.29 in a 52-week range of $5.90 to $11.30.

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