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From JC Penny's 10K (click to open .pdf)

Rough math has the impact of share repurchases and pension contribution effect increasing EPS ~30% in 2011 all other things being equal. Any operational/macro improvements will simply add to that..

• No repurchases of common stock were made during the fourth quarter of 2010, and no amounts were authorized for share repurchase as of January 29, 2011. In February 2011, the Board authorized a program to repurchase up to $900 million of common stock on the open market. This program was launched on March 4, 2011 and is expected to be completed in 2011.
• We opened 76 Sephora inside jcpenney beauty boutiques to bring our total to 231 locations.
• Sales in all geographic regions increased in 2010, with the best performance in the southeast and southwest regions with the
• weakest in the northwest and northeast regions. Our best performing categories were men's apparel and women's accessories, including Sephora. Home and women's apparel experienced the weakest performance for the year. Private and exclusive brands found only at jcpenney continue to grow and as a percent of total merchandise sales were 55% in 2010 versus 54% in 2009.
• During the year, we opened 76 Sephora inside jcpenney locations, bringing us to 231 locations compared to 155 at the end of 2009. We plan to open an additional 76 Sephora inside jcpenney locations in 2011.
• Based on our 2010 year-end measurement of primary pension plan assets and benefit obligations, we expect our 2011 non-cash primary pension plan expense to decline to $87 million compared to $221 million in 2010. The lower expense will benefit EPS about $0.35 based on the 2010 level of shares used for the EPS calculation. The reduction is primarily the result of positive returns on plan assets due to favorable capital market experience in 2010 and our discretionary cash contribution of $392 million in May 2010,
• For 2010, we ended the year with $2.6 billion of cash and cash equivalent balances and had positive free cash flow of $158 million.
• Our liquidity position provides the flexibility for our team to support the key components of our growth initiatives. Early in 2010, we used cash on hand to retire $393 million of debt at its maturity and $300 million to purchase long-term debt through a tender offer. At year-end 2010, our cash-to-debt ratio was about 85%, while our debt-to-total capital ratio improved to 36%. Our next scheduled debt maturity of $230 million will occur in August 2012.
• ESOP plan holds 6% of outstanding shares....management and directors (other than Pershing/Vornado) continue to hold <1%.....that sucks