Anabelle Colaco
08 Jun 2025

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tennessee: Dollar General reported record sales of US$10.44 billion for the latest quarter and raised its full-year profit and sales forecast.

As the U.S. economy faces uncertainty, more Americans are cutting back on spending and shopping at discount stores like Dollar General and other low-price retailers.

The U.S. economy shrank by 0.2 percent from January to March, the first decline in three years. President Donald Trump's trade wars have caused businesses to reduce their spending, and consumer spending has also slowed down.

While many major retailers, such as Macy's, Target, and Best Buy, are lowering their profit and sales forecasts due to cautious shoppers and the effects of tariffs, Dollar General is standing out by increasing its expectations for the year.

For the quarter ending May 2, Dollar General's sales rose five percent to $10.44 billion, up from $9.91 billion at the same time last year. This was better than Wall Street's expectation of $10.29 billion, according to Zacks Investment Research.

Sales at stores open for at least one year—a key sign of a retailer's performance—went up by 2.4 percent. Although customer visits dropped slightly by 0.3 percent, the average amount each customer spent increased by 2.7 percent.

The company's stock price jumped more than 15 percent on June 3. Shares of its competitor, Dollar Tree, which will report earnings on Wednesday, also rose by 6 percent.

Dollar General earned $391.9 million, or $1.78 per share, during the quarter. This beat both Wall Street's expectation of $1.47 per share and the company's profit of $363.3 million during the same period last year.

Even though Dollar General performed better than expected, it warned that there is still uncertainty about how tariffs might affect its business and its customers for the rest of the year.

Many shoppers are trying to make their money go further by shopping at discount stores. However, lower-income consumers are under more financial stress.

"While the macro backdrop continues to be broadly unhelpful, with core lower-income consumers still facing considerable pressure on their finances, this was mitigated during the quarter by consumers gently stocking up on things in anticipation of tariffs," Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said in a statement.

Dollar General now expects its 2025 earnings to be between $5.20 and $5.80 per share, up from the earlier forecast of around $5.10 to $5.80 per share. Analysts at FactSet are expecting $5.61 per share.

The company now predicts its total sales will rise by 3.7 percent to 4.7 percent, compared to its earlier forecast of 3.4 percent to 4.4 percent. It also expects sales at stores open at least a year to grow by 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent, slightly higher than its previous forecast of 1.2 percent to 2.2 percent.