Dollar General shares crater 25% as retailer cuts outlook, blaming ‘financially constrained’ customers

Dollar General shares tumbled Thursday after the discount retailer slashed its sales and profit guidance for the full year, suggesting its lower-income customers are struggling in this economy.

Shares of the retailer, which caters to more rural areas, tumbled 25% after the earnings report.

The company now expects fiscal 2024 same-store sales to be up 1.0% to 1.6%, lower than its prior outlook for a 2% to 2.7% increase. Earnings per share for the year are expected to be in the range of just $5.50 to $6.20, versus the prior forecast of $6.80 to $7.55 per share.

“While we believe the softer sales trends are partially attributable to a core customer who feels financially constrained, we know the importance of controlling what we can control,” said CEO Todd Vasos in a statement.

However, he also acknowledged that the company has more work to do. Dollar General has said that it needs to improve its stores and how it handles inventory to curb losses.

Here’s how Dollar General did in its second fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $1.70 vs. $1.79 expected
• Revenue: $10.21 billion vs. $10.37 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Aug. 2 was $374 million, or $1.70 per share, compared with $469 million, or $2.13 per share, a year earlier.

Sales rose to $10.21 billion, up about 4.2% from $9.80 billion a year earlier.

Competitor Dollar Tree was falling in sympathy, off by more than 7% in early trading.