Dollar General (DG) Stock: Discount Retailer Jumps 5% After Q1 Earnings Beat

TLDR

• Dollar General posted Q1 EPS of $2.00, beating the $1.89 analyst estimate
• Revenue rose 3.4% to $10.79 billion, roughly in line with Wall Street forecasts
• Same-store sales grew 2.0%, driven by higher traffic and larger basket sizes
• Full-year EPS guidance raised to $7.20–$7.45, up from $7.10–$7.35
• DG stock jumped roughly 4.6% to $115 in premarket trading Tuesday

Dollar General beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations in its fiscal first quarter and lifted its full-year guidance, sending the stock up 4.6% to $115 in premarket trading Tuesday.

Dollar General Corporation, DG

The discount retailer reported Q1 earnings of $2.00 per share, topping the $1.89 analyst consensus by $0.10. Net income came in at $444.1 million, up from $391.9 million a year ago.

Revenue climbed 3.4% year-over-year to $10.79 billion. That came in just under the $10.82 billion Wall Street had modeled, but was close enough that the market didn’t seem to mind.

Same-store sales rose 2.0%, matching analyst expectations. Customer traffic was up 1.4% and average transaction size edged up 0.5%.

Margin Expansion Drives the Beat

The earnings outperformance came largely from operating margin expansion. Operating profit jumped 10.8% to $638.5 million. Gross profit margin widened 65 basis points to 31.6%.

CEO Todd Vasos credited higher inventory markups and lower shrink and inventory damages. He acknowledged headwinds from severe winter weather and elevated fuel costs, but said margin improvements more than covered them.

Growth was broad-based across consumables, seasonal, apparel, and home products. The increase came from both new store openings and stronger performance at existing locations.

Guidance Gets a Lift

For fiscal 2026, Dollar General raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance range to $7.20–$7.45, up from the prior $7.10–$7.35. The midpoint of $7.33 sits above the analyst consensus of $7.25.

The company kept its net sales growth outlook at 3.7% to 4.2% and same-store sales growth guidance of 2.2% to 2.7%. No changes there, but the EPS raise was enough to get the market’s attention.

The board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.59 per share, payable on or before July 21, 2026.

The results follow rival Dollar Tree reporting last week that its value proposition continued to resonate with shoppers across all income levels, also raising its outlook for the year.

Dollar General’s store count continues to grow, with new openings outpacing closures during the quarter.

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