JC Penney (JCP) felt the pinch this holiday season as it announced declining sales for the last nine weeks. The retailer saw its share price plunge with the release of the sales results by more than 7% Thursday morning.

Comparable store sales for the company dropped 7.5% during the holiday shopping season, with adjusted comparable sales down 5.4%, which JC Penney said was impacted by its exit from the appliance and furniture business back in February 2019.

JC Penney has been undergoing a turnaround strategy over the last few months, lead by CEO Jill Soltau. The retailer has added new product collections such as its St. John’s Bay Outdoor line, partnered with secondhand women’s clothing retailer ThredUP, and tested a new smaller format store concept that includes a lounge area, barbershop, and fitness classes.

At the same time, JC Penney did reaffirm its outlook for fiscal 2019. The company said it expects comparable store sales to be in the range of 7% to 8% and adjusted comparable sales in the range of 5% to 6%. It also sees its Adjusted EBITDA to exceed $475 million and is expected to be free cash flow positive by fiscal year-end.

Shares of JC Penney stock were down 7.0417% as of 10:14 a.m. EST on Thursday.

JC Penney Store Closures Q4
J.C. Penney announced that it would be closing another 27 stores by the second quarter of 2019. Signage is displayed at the entrance of a JC Penney department store inside the Manhattan Mall on May 15, 2017 in the Herald Square neighborhood in New York City. Getty Images/Drew Angerer
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