Taking a Look at JCPenney

At J. Crew we take pride in offering fashionable clothes at affordable prices. Recently at our website you and a lot of other customers ordered a sensational turtleneck cashmere sweater. Which was listed at the amazing price of $18.

Free cash flows are the monies available for distribution to all investors after paying current expenses, taxes, and making the investments necessary for growth.

Financial ratios are important in assessing the two companies’ performances. Referring to Exhibit A and B, we see that Sears relied heavily on debt financing. Although its 1997 ROE was high, it had a 300 days cash conversion cycle and a slow A/R turnover ratio. After evaluating various ratios, we concluded that the driving force behind Sears’ profitability was its proprietary card business. For a retailer, a strategy of using flexible payment options to boost sales is not a viable long term solution. The slow A/R turnover and negative operating cash flow cause concerns. On the other hand, Wal-Mart had a quick cash conversion cycle of 91 days, and a working capital turnover of 24/yr (vs.10/yr for Sears). These ratios represent a retail company with sound fundamental strategies, as well as the implementation and execution of those strategies. The financial ratios gave us insights into the companies’ operating and financing strategies, putting the two companies’ annual results into

Macy’s Inc. ratio was .02 and JC Penny Co. Inc. was .00. To improve this ratio, both companies need to improve on their net income. If JC Penny doesn’t continue to improve its net income, then this ratio will begin to lean negative, signaling the company is losing money for every dollar is sales and may not be good investment. Macy’s Inc. still has room before it hits .00, however, if their net income continues to fall, they soon too may have the same profit margin ratio as JC Penny Co. Inc. Shutting down unsatisfactory stores – as each company is doing – may help improve this ratio as well. With less funding going to these stores, such as salary’s, rent, and wasted inventory, they will be able to improve their net income value.

Operating cash flow was not enough to cover capital investments (this firm does not to appear to pay dividends as it does not show in the prior 3 years). The firm is financing it operations from the issuance of common stock. $23,082 was raised during the period, which is covering its investments in capital expenditures.

Bargaining Power of Buyers: The bargaining power of buyers is high in the department store retail industry. The volume of buyers is high, and buyers are very price sensitive in this industry. The products are not highly differentiated, and there are numerous stores that offer the same, or similar, products, giving buyers the opportunity to search for the lowest prices and information. The industry has substitutes available in the form of specialty, differentiated products and stores. This increases the power of buyers,

This report presents data describing the differences amongst the two department stores, their fundamental visions, and comparative statistics. Macy’s or Dillard’s: Differences amongst these competitors There are several aspects you can analyze from each department store. Major pieces do set each one apart from the other. Brand names carried by Macy’s and Dillard’s from an average shoppers point of view can go completely unnoticed unless price is involved. For trend shoppers brand names can either make or break a retail store. It can easily determine if he or she will walk to Macy’s or Dillard’s because they already know the store does or does not carry that brand. This is consistent with each department throughout both stores and

Free cash flow is the cash remaining from operations which indicates the company’s ability to generate cash. In this case Hershey has a much higher free cash flow amount which indicates they have a higher ability to generate cash. This calls into question Tootsie Rolls ability to repay long-term obligations.

As one of the major retailers in the United States, JCPenney has 1,104 department stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico as of February 2, 2013. The key success of its business is tremendously depending on the sales performance. However, the retail business is highly competitive, with low barriers to entry and low profit margin. Due to large sales plunge in 2012, the company is in financial trouble. The thorough analysis of JCPenney’s financial statements is vital to judge the future performance of its business.

JC Penney had to undergo and withstand several competitive issues to include changing of brand image, selling strategy and marketing strategy. JC Penney also had to account for Environmental Factors to include: a population that continued to age and also unemployment rates. JC Penney tried to influence customers by portraying an everlasting sale. No matter how hard JC Penney tried to market their products, if people didn’t

A measure of financial performance calculated as operating cash flow minus capital expenditures. Free cash flow (FCF) represents the cash that a company is able to generate after laying out the money required to maintain or expand its asset base. Free cash flow is important because it allows a company to pursue opportunities that enhance shareholder value. Without cash, it's tough to develop new products, make acquisitions, pay dividends and reduce debt.

The free cash flow method is used to gauge “a company’s cash flow beyond that necessary to grow at the current rate… [to ensure companies] make capital expenditures to continue to exist and to grow” (Drake, n.d.). Calculation of free cash flows utilizes various components, including a firm’s value, cash flow forecasts, a firm’s capital structure, the cost of capital, and/or discounted cash flows.

Although the company has a profit of 30000 $, Jones Electrical Distribution has a negative cash flow of -30000$. Profits are not equal to cash. A business can go bankrupt if negative cash flows continue to occur for years to come. If we investigate further we find that the company has a high day sales in accounts receivable. The company is unable to collect cash quickly from its customers.

JC Penney is not as large as some of its competitors, many of which have more substantial resources and are constantly attacking their market share. The company also faces threats from economic conditions, such as high unemployment and the recent recession. When consumers are under financial pressures can easily decide to shop elsewhere, such as Kohl’s, Target, and even the dreaded Walmart. Even the perception of better value can drive consumers elsewhere.

As we can see in J&J’s balance sheet, the total assets (total liabilities + total stockholders’ equity) for 2009 was $94,682.