Hedge Funder Bill Ackman Has Lost Nearly $150 Million On JCPenney Just Since Yesterday

JCPenney reported disastrous quarterly earnings yesterday with same store sales down 32 percent in the fourth quarter.

The stock tanked on the earnings news.

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, the CEO of $12 billion Pershing Square Capital Management, is the biggest shareholder of JCP with a 18.11% stake, or 39,075,771 shares, according the latest 13F filing.

So far, he's taken a bath betting on the retailer.

According to our calculations, Pershing Square's JCP lost about $149 million in value since yesterday's close.

Yesterday JCPenney stock closed at $21.16 a share. The stock was last trading down more than 18.11 percent at about $17.33 per share today.

Ackman, who is on JCPenney's board, still remains a believer in the retailer.

Earlier this month at the Harbor Investment Conference, he said JCPenney's CEO Ron Johnson has done a lot in the 13 or 14 months that he's been at the helm.

Ackman noted that Johnson had a tougher time with the decision to completely withdraw promotions. He explained that the consumer base was used to coupons, so that's why Johnson took the price level down to where the consumer would want to buy it.

The problem, Ackman explained, is once those promotions were taken away is getting the consumer in, but the company has responded with the circulars and advertisements by including a reference price. He said JCPenney is also bringing sales back at relevant times.

Ackman also said the media has been "very negative" and Johnson gets "picked on more than any other CEO in the country."

Someone at the conference then asked Ackman what if JCP's plan doesn't work. To that, he responded with, "It's hard for me to imagine a scenario in which sales don't stabilize."