It's becoming less and less likely that Sears can save itself

Sears reported its 20th straight quarterly decline on Thursday and acknowledged that the company has "fallen short" of expectations for a recovery.

The company said revenue fell 12.5% to $5 billion in the third quarter.

Same-store sales dropped 7.4%, including a 10% decrease at Sears stores and a 4.4% decrease at Kmart stores.

Sears' cash and equivalents fell 12% to $258 million in the period.

The company said it will continue to accelerate store closures to help stop the bleeding.

Sears is shutting down 64 Kmart stores this month, following the closure of nearly 80 Sears and Kmart stores in July.

"We understand the concerns related to our operating performance," Sears Chief Financial Officer Jason Hollar said in a pre-recorded conference call. "We have fallen short on our own time-table for achieving the profitability that we believe the company is capable of generating. With that said, the team remains fully committed to restoring profitability to our company and creating meaningful value."

Addressing widespread speculation about a potential Sears bankruptcy, Hollar reiterated that the company has a "rich asset base" to draw from in order to stay in operation.

"We believe that our liquidity needs will be satisfied through the foreseeable future using the levers available to us through our portfolio of assets," Hollar said.

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