![Why JCPenney is in serious trouble](https://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/180517175324-jcpenney-trouble-thumb-1024x576.jpg)
JCPenney’s CEO left in May. Now its No. 2 is out, too.
Penney Co. said Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Davis will resign after 14 months on the job. Executive Jerry Murray will take over as interim treasurer.
Davis’ departure marks another sign of trouble JCPenney (JCP). Lowe’s shares have fallen 45% this year as Marvin Ellison exits the company’s top job. Penney has not yet replaced Ellison.
The stock fell 9% to around $1.60 on Friday, hitting a record low.
“They’re like a leaky ship that will eventually sink,” Mark Cohen, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School, told CNNMoney last month. “Predictions about the future are not happiness.”
Penney has more than $4 billion in debt. The company has been profitable in just two quarters over the past four years. In the most recent quarter, Penney lost $101 million and was forced to discount clothing to clear a backlog of excess clothing.
Analysts say Penney lacks a clear vision to keep consumers coming back. Although the company closed 141 stores last year and will close eight more this year, it still has more than 860 stores remaining.
Penney has shifted its focus from older shoppers to younger, trendier shoppers. Now it is re-targeting middle-aged women with brands such as Liz Claiborne. Earlier this month, Penney launched Artesia, a new line of fashionable women’s clothing priced under $30.
Davis said in the months before he left that Penney’s core customers were women over 45. The company will provide an update on its efforts to win over these shoppers when it reports quarterly earnings in early November.
CNN Business (New York) First published September 28, 2018: 10:50am ET