Dive Brief:

• A J.C. Penney executive (so far unnamed) Tuesday accidentally revealed Q1 same-store sales so far to an analyst, and the retailer now must go public with the number, per Securities and Exchange Commission rules.

• The company has seen same-store sales rise 6% so far, and says that will end up to be 3.5% to 4.5% for the full quarter, beating the 3.1% analysts have expected for the quarter.

• The retailer, which will formally release Q1 results in mid-May, has seen sales dip somewhat after a Q1 6.2% increase last year, and shares slid as investors worried about discounting eating into margins.

Dive Insight:

Whoops. A flub like this is more than an embarrassment, it’s also an SEC violation, which prompts the need for a filing or effort to make news public within 24 hours. The SEC prohibits any dissemination of material information to investors or analysts without also disclosing it to the public. 

In any case, it looks like J.C. Penney so far is having a nice quarter. But an early Easter will temper results somewhat later on, and margin-munching discounting has been necessary to spur sales at the retailer.