Dollar General Corp., in posting first-quarter earnings and comparable sales growth that beat expectations, announced an improved financial outlook for its fiscal year.
Net income was $391.9 million, or $1.78 per diluted share, versus $363.3 million, or $1.65 per diluted share, in the year-prior quarter.
A Zacks Investment Research analyst consensus estimate forecast earnings per diluted share of $1.47 and revenues of $10.29 billion.
Comparable sales advanced 2.4% in the quarter year over year based on a 2.7% increase in average transaction amount and a 0.3% decrease in customer traffic, Dollar General stated. Comp growth in the period included gains in the home products, consumables, seasonal and apparel categories.
Net sales increased to $10.44 billion versus $9.91 billion in the 2024 first quarter. Positive sales contributions from new stores and comp growth drove the net sales increase, partially offset by the impact of store closures, the company noted.
Operating profit was $576.1 million versus $546.1 million in the year-earlier quarter.
As it announced its first quarter financial results, Dollar General revised its guidance for the fiscal year, with the outlook now for net sales growth of 3.7% to 4.7% versus the previous expectation of 3.4% to 4.4%, comp growth of 1.5% to 2.5% versus the previous expectation of 1.2% to 2.2%, and diluted EPS of $5.20 to $5.80, versus the previous expectation of $5.10 to $5.80.
The updated guidance assumes current tariff rates remain in place through mid-August 2025, Dollar General reported, adding the company plans to address the potential reversion to the tariff rates announced in April on goods from China placed on a temporary hold by the Trump administration.
“We are pleased with our start to the year, including strong same-store sales and EPS results,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General CEO. “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. I want to thank our team for their hard work and dedication to serving our customers and communities with value and convenience every day. These efforts contributed to market share gains in sales of both consumables and non-consumables, and drove growth with both our core customer and trade-in customers during the quarter. Looking ahead, we are uniquely well-positioned to serve our customer in a variety of economic environments.”
