Dollar General Cuts FY24 Outlook After Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates; Stock Plunges - Update

(RTTNews) - Dollar General Corp. (DG), while reporting weak second-quarter profit below market estimates, on Thursday trimmed its fiscal 2024 forecast below the Street, primarily to reflect the softer sales trends and related gross margin impacts, which are anticipated to continue through the remainder of the year.

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, Dollar General shares were declining around 23.43 percent to trade at $94.83.

Outlook

For fiscal year 2024, the company now expects earnings per share in the range of around $5.50 to $6.20, compared to its previous expectation of approximately $6.80 to $7.55.

Analysts on average expect the company to earn $7.12 per share for the year, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net sales growth is now projected in the range of approximately 4.7 percent to 5.3 percent, compared to its previous expectation of around 6.0 percent to 6.7 percent.

Same-store sales growth is now expected in the range of around 1.0 percent to 1.6 percent, while previous expectation was in the range of 2.0 percent to 2.7 percent

Dividend

Further, Dollar General's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.59 per share, payable on or before October 22 to shareholders of record on October 8.

Q2 Results

In its second quarter, Dollar General's earnings decreased from the same period last year and missed the Street estimates.

The company's bottom line came in at $374.19 million, or $1.70 per share, down 20.2 percent from $468.84 million, or $2.13 per share, in last year's second quarter. Analysts had expected the company to earn $1.79 per share.

The company's revenue for the quarter, however, rose 4.2 percent to $10.210 billion from $9.796 billion last year. Same-Store Sales increased 0.5 percent.

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