J. C. Penney shares soared more than 16 percent Friday on better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, but retail consultant Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz and Co., says the picture remains bleak for the storied retailer.

J. C. Penney reported a 6.3 percent sales gain in the quarter ended May 3, its first gain since 2011. Revenue totaled $2.8 billion, beating analysts' average estimate of $2.71 billion, according to Bloomberg.

But Davidowitz wasn't impressed. "J. C. Penney looks like a cadaver to me, similar to Sears," he told Yahoo.

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"That doesn't mean they're going away tomorrow, but I don't think they're a viable, profitable company for years to come."

And it's not a profitable company now either. J. C. Penney posted a net loss of $352 million, or $1.15 a share, in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $348 million, or $1.58, a year ago.

The company will "have a giant loss this year, no matter what happens," Davidowitz insisted. "They're nowhere in the marketplace.

He expects the company to keep shuttering stores and to continue losing business to other retailers, such as T.J.Maxx. "This is not a company with a future."

Charles Grom, an analyst at Sterne Agee, offers a more tempered assessment of J. C. Penney.

"[This was] the first time in two-plus years JCP delivered stronger-than-expected results, which should alleviate concerns regarding both an imminent need to raise capital and a bankruptcy filing," he wrote in a commentary obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

But, "we still have our reservations on the turnaround and would not chase."

Penney shares rose $1.36, or 16.3 percent, to close at $9.73 Friday in Nasdaq trading.

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