Dollar General sales gained but earnings fell, yet both topped a Wall Street estimate for the third quarter.
A Yahoo Finance-published analyst consensus emphasis called for earnings per diluted share of $1.19 and revenues of $9.64 billion.
Comparable sales decreased 1.3% in the quarter year over year, the company reported, as net sales increased 2.4% to $9.69 billion. A decline in average transaction amount, partially offset by an increase in customer traffic, drove the comp decline, which extended across home, seasonal, apparel and consumable categories, according to Dollar General.
Operating profit was $433.5 million versus $735.5 million in the year-prior period.
After having taken up the chief executive officer position again, Todd Vasos, Dollar General CEO said in announcing the financial results, “I am excited to be back at Dollar General and working with the team to fulfill our mission of serving others every day. Over the last several weeks, we have spent significant time reviewing all areas of the business, and we have identified key opportunities for improvement both in the near term and over the longer term. While we are not satisfied with our financial results for the third quarter, including a significant headwind from inventory shrink, we are pleased with the momentum in some of the underlying sales trends, including positive customer traffic as well as market share gains in both dollars and units. We continue to believe our model is relevant in all economic cycles, and we are working diligently to further enhance our unique combination of value and convenience. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce today our real estate growth plans for fiscal year 2024, which include approximately 2,385 projects in total, including 800 new stores, 1,500 remodels, and 85 relocations. This is a modest slowdown compared to the number of projects in recent years, which we believe is prudent in this environment. We are excited about the opportunities these projects provide to serve both new and existing customers while also driving strong financial returns for the business and laying the foundation for future growth.”
