JC Penney Shares Implode After Company Says They'll Bring Back Old CEO

Shares of JC Penney have gone on a wild ride in after-hours trading on news of turmoil in the executive suite.

At around 5:00 PM ET, CNBC reported that Ron Johnson was out as CEO of JC Penney.

As soon as the headline crossed, shares of JCP spiked by more than 10 percent.

JC Penney had hired Ron Johnson from Apple to revamp its stores in an effort to boost sales. However, his actions were actually followed by plummeting sales. In its most recently completed quarter, same-store sales fell by 32 percent.

Those after-hour gains slowly slipped and then tanked at around 5:30 PM ET, which was when management announced that former CEO Mike Ullman would return as interim CEO.

Here's a look at the gut-wrenching swing in the after-hours session via MarketWatch: