Dollar General (DG) drops 5% as preliminary sales miss estimates

Shares of Dollar General (NYSE: DG) are moving lower today after the company reported weaker-than-expected preliminary sales for the fourth quarter.

Dollar General reported preliminary EPS in the range of $2.91 and $2.96, worse than the company’s guidance for earnings of $3.15 to $3.30 per share. Analysts were looking for an EPS of $3.26. Comparable sales grew 5.7%, worse than the expected 6-7% growth range provided by the company earlier, led by a weak December.

“The company believes the lower-than-expected results are primarily attributable to lower-than-anticipated sales and higher-than-anticipated inventory damages, both of which were negatively impacted, to varying degrees, by Winter Storm Elliott during the fourth quarter,” DG said in a press release.

For the full year, Dollar General expects comparable sales to grow 3-3.5% while EPS growth is seen between 4-6%. Analysts were looking for comp sales growth of 3.36% and EPS growth of 9%.

DG will report the final Q4 results on March 16.

By Senad Karaahmetovic

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