Dollar General earnings beat on top and bottom line

Dollar General is opening 900 stores in 2018.AP

Dollar General reported earnings that beat on both the top and bottom lines on Thursday, but shares are down 2%.

The discount retailer posted earnings of $1.52 per share in second quarter, $0.03 better than what Wall Street analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting. The company also said its net sales rose 10.6% year-over-year to $6.4 billion, edging out the $6.36 billion that was expected. Comparable sales jumped 3.7%, beating the consensus increase of 2.7%.

“We delivered a strong second quarter and are proud of our team’s execution,” CEO Todd Vasos said in the earnings release.

“Our results this quarter were driven by contributions from our mature store base, as well as the robust performance of our new stores. In addition, we maintained our disciplined focus on cost control, which culminated in another quarter of significant earnings growth. At the same time, we also continued to invest in our strategic initiatives and made meaningful progress advancing against our goals.”

Looking ahead, the Dollar General reiterated its diluted earnings per share guidance of $5.95 to $6.15 for fiscal year 2018. Analysts had expected $6.06 per share. The company also reiterated its plans to open around 900 new stores, remodel 1,000 stores, and relocate 100 stores this year.

Shares of Dollar General were up 10% this year through Wednesday.

Ethel Jiang/Business Insider