Dollar General soars on earnings beat and boosted outlook
Shoppers are flocking to the discount chain as more consumers look to cut costs.
Dollar General shares jumped more than 10% in premarket trading Tuesday, helping lead S&P 500 gains, after the discount retailer crushed Q1 expectations.
Earnings per share rose nearly 8% to $1.78, beating FactSet estimates of $1.48. Revenue also topped forecasts at $10.4 billion versus the $10.2 billion expected. Same-store sales grew 2.4%, well above the 1.5% forecast, with the average transaction amount also ticking higher.
“Our efforts to improve execution and enhance the associate and customer experience are yielding positive outcomes in both our operational performance and our financial results,” CEO Todd Vasos said. He added that those efforts helped Dollar General gain market share across both consumables and nonconsumables as well as drive growth with customers.
Looking ahead, the company now expects net sales to grow 3.7% to 4.7% for the full year, up slightly from its previous 3.4% to 4.4% forecast. Same-store sales growth is expected to rise 1.5% to 2.5%, versus earlier guidance of 1.2% to 2.2%.
Shares of peer Dollar Tree, which is slated to report earnings tomorrow, also jumped on this encouraging report.
Dollar General shares were up 28% year to date prior to this morning’s pop.
