Dollar General Corp. shares rose 8.4% in premarket trading on Thursday after the discount retailer reported second-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations and raised its fiscal 2026 outlook.
The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.48, surpassing the $2.00 consensus estimate by 24%. Revenue increased 5.2% year-over-year to $11.3 billion, topping the $11.19 billion estimate and up from $10.7 billion in the same period last year. Same-store sales grew 3.5%, driven by a 2.0% rise in customer traffic and a 1.5% increase in the average transaction amount. This marked the fifth consecutive quarter of traffic growth for the retailer.
Operating profit jumped 29.2% to $769.2 million, compared with $595.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Gross profit margin expanded by 127 basis points to 32.6%, supported by tariff refunds, a lower LIFO provision, and reduced distribution costs. The company estimated that tariff refunds, net of reinvestments, contributed approximately 81 basis points, or about $0.25 per share, to the margin improvement.
For the full fiscal year 2026, Dollar General raised its diluted EPS guidance to a range of $7.80 to $8.00, up from the prior range of $7.20 to $7.45. The midpoint of $7.90 exceeds the current analyst consensus of $7.39. The company also increased its net sales growth outlook to 4.0% to 4.3%, from 3.7% to 4.2%, and raised its same-store sales growth forecast to 2.5% to 2.9%, from 2.2% to 2.7%.
The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.59 per share, payable on or before October 20, 2026. Dollar General’s CEO Todd Vasos noted that the quarter’s performance reflected balanced top-line growth, healthy operating margin expansion, and strong double-digit EPS growth, attributing the results to execution and strategic direction.
