J.C. Penney stock falls after Michael Francis ousted as president

J.C. Penney Co. Inc.? ? J.C. Penney Co. Inc. Latest from The Business Journals J.C. Penney terminates president after eight monthsJ.C. Penney president leavingMichael Francis is out as president of J.C. Penney Co. Follow this company (NYSE: JCP) stock is reaching new lows Tuesday morning after Michael Francis was fired from his post as president on Monday.

Shares of the Plano-based department store chain were trading around $21.89 at 10 a.m. CST, down about 10 percent.

In a brief press release Monday, the company announced Francis? departure nearly nine months after he joined the company as one of CEO Ron Johnson?s first hires.

Francis, who was formerly chief marketing officer of Target Corp.? ? Target Corp. Latest from The Business Journals J.C. Penney terminates president after eight monthsSocial Madness moves to head-to-head competition with Target, FLW Outdoors and LANhome TECHnologies as the top seedsHow to fight showrooming: Surprise, delight and maybe lasers Follow this company (NYSE: TGT), was seen as a key part of the J.C. Penney transformation, appearing on stage with Johnson when the company announced its plan in January.

His departure lowers the confidence of many on Wall Street.

?It?s a catastrophic blow to the bull case for the shares,? said Deutsche Bank analyst Charles Grom in a report titled ?You just can't make this stuff up: Francis Out @ JCP.?

Others believe Francis may be a fall guy for Penney?s unclear message.

?The sudden nature of the departure underscores, in our opinion, the big-time mistakes J.C. Penney has made in articulating [its] new image,? Brian Sozzi, an analyst at NBG Productions, said in a Wall Street Journal article.

Francis will not leave J.C. Penney totally empty handed. He was paid a one-time signing bonus of $12 million and had a base salary of $1.2 million. Francis was also given 1 million shares of restricted stock.

Steven covers retail, hospitality, marketing and public relations.

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