NEW YORK — J.C. Penney withdrew its profit guidance and lowered its sales expectations for the year, leading to a big drop in its stock in early trading before shares recovered.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer’s health, declined 5.4 percent during the third quarter. That was much worse than the analysts’ prediction of a 0.5 percent decline, according to FactSet. J.C. Penney’s poor performance is an outlier at a time when the strong economy is helping retailers from Walmart to Home Depot. Many are also benefiting from struggling peers like Sears or Bon Ton who are either fading or going out of business. They’re heavily investing in online services and bolstering their merchandise assortment. Instead, Penney has been floundering, weighed down by debt that limits how much it can aggressively reinvent its operations.

J.C. Penney said Thursday it withdrew guidance because its new CEO and interim CFO need more time to look over operations. The poor performance underscores big challenges for Jill Soltau, the former Jo-Ann’s Stores CEO who was named to Penney’s top post last month. Soltau succeeded Marvin Ellison, who left this past summer.