By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) dropped after a big earnings miss.
Third quarter earnings per share of 48 cents missed the estimate of 96 cents on sales of $1.06 billion, lower than the expected $1.12 billion, according to data compiled by Investing.com. That compares to EPS of $1.77 on sales of $1.42 billion a year earlier.
"Despite COVID-19, we are encouraged by the increases we are seeing in shopper traffic, retailer sales and tenant rent collections across our portfolio," said Chief Executive Officer David Simon in a statement.
Earlier Wednesday, Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) raised the price target on Simon Property Group to $80 from $70 while maintaining an equal weight rating, according to StreetInsider.
Shares have fallen almost 50% since the start of 2020, getting hammered after lockdown mandates kept people from congregating in malls, and consumers turned to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and other online stores for their shopping needs.
On Monday, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the deal for Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners (NASDAQ:BPY) to buy J.C. Penney assets. The department store filed for Chapter 11 in May.
All of the company's U.S. retail outlets are open for the holiday shopping season, and occupancy as of Sept. 30 was at 91%.