Dollar General Corporation · DG · FY2026 Q1 · Calendar Q2 2026

Dollar General Beats EPS, Raises FY26 Guidance as $1 Value Strategy Drives Comps

Dollar General delivered a Q1 EPS beat and raised full-year guidance, but revenue narrowly missed consensus and same-store sales growth decelerated meaningfully from Q4's 4.3% to 2%. The $1 price-point strategy and delivery expansion are proving durable comp drivers, each contributing roughly 70 basis points to comparable sales growth. Margin expansion continues, and management struck a confident tone. The stock fell 3.3% on the report before drifting more than 8% higher in subsequent weeks, suggesting the market initially fixated on the sales deceleration but ultimately rewarded the raised guidance and value-led comp trajectory. Analyst concerns center on whether the comp momentum and margin gains are sustainable as fuel costs and inflation press on Dollar General's core low-income customer.

Reported Before market openNYSEConsumer Defensive $28.39B market cap
100quality score

Company context

Snapshot as of publication

Dollar General Corporation is a prominent discount retail chain that offers a wide array of merchandise across the southern, southwestern, Midwestern, and eastern regions of the United States. Its extensive product assortment primarily features consumable items. This includes household essentials such as paper products, cleaning supplies, and laundry detergents; a wide array of food options, ranging from shelf-stable groceries like cereals, pasta, canned goods, condiments, and baking ingredients, to fresh and refrigerated perishables such as milk, eggs, bread, and frozen foods, as well as alcoholic beverages like beer and wine. The selection further encompasses popular snacks (candies, cookies, crackers, and carbonated drinks), health and beauty aids (over-the-counter medications, personal care items, cosmetics, dental, and foot care products), pet food and supplies, and tobacco products.…

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $2.00 Consensus $2
EPS surprise +5.8% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $10.79B Consensus $10.81B
Revenue surprise -0.3% Reported versus consensus

Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
DG REVENUE earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q3 '24 estimate $10B Q3 '24 actual $10B, miss Q4 '24 estimate $10B Q4 '24 actual $10B, beat Q1 '25 estimate $10B Q1 '25 actual $10B, beat Q2 '25 estimate $10B Q2 '25 actual $10B, miss Q1 '26 estimate $10B Q1 '26 actual $10B, beat Q2 '26 estimate $11B Q2 '26 actual $11B, beat Q3 '26 estimate $11B Q3 '26 actual $11B, beat Q4 '26 estimate $11B Q4 '26 actual $11B, beat Q1 '27 estimate $11B Q1 '27 actual $11B, miss Q2 '27 estimate $11B Q3 '27 estimate $11B Q4 '27 estimate $11B Q1 '28 estimate $11B
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusHold49 ratings
Bullish2653.1%
Neutral2040.8%
Bearish36.1%

1 unmapped firm rating excluded from the percentages.

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$127.73Current
$80Low
$148.67Average
$273High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 30, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Evercore ISI Group In Line In LineMaintainJul 7, 2026
Barclays Overweight OverweightMaintainJun 4, 2026
Truist Securities Hold HoldMaintainJun 3, 2026
Telsey Advisory Group Market Perform Market PerformMaintainJun 3, 2026
Piper Sandler Neutral NeutralMaintainJun 3, 2026
Morgan Stanley Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainJun 3, 2026
Loop Capital Hold HoldMaintainJun 3, 2026
Freedom Broker Hold BuyDowngradeJun 3, 2026
Show 42 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $127.73. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Telsey AdvisoryJoseph Feldman$125$103.06 -2.1%Jun 3, 2026
Loop Capital MarketsAnalyst unavailable$115$102.56 -10.0%Jun 3, 2026
Evercore ISIAnalyst unavailable$140$103.77 +9.6%Jun 3, 2026
BMO CapitalKelly Bania$120$106.37 -6.1%Jun 3, 2026
BernsteinAnalyst unavailable$149$106.37 +16.7%Jun 3, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$132$106.37 +3.3%Jun 3, 2026
Piper SandlerAnalyst unavailable$118$106.37 -7.6%Jun 3, 2026
Raymond JamesBobby Griffin$145$106.37 +13.5%Jun 3, 2026
BarclaysSeth Sigman$148$106.37 +15.9%Jun 3, 2026
Truist FinancialAnalyst unavailable$114$107.59 -10.7%Jun 2, 2026
See 109 more

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Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move -3.3% Event window
SPY move +0.1% Same window
Abnormal move -3.5% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.1× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +8.4% Up to 20 sessions
DGSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

Net sales rose 3.4% to $10.8 billion, decelerating from 5.9% growth in Q4. Same-store sales increased 2% (vs 4.3% in Q4), driven by traffic growth and a 0.5-point increase in basket size. EPS came in at $2.00 versus the $1.89 consensus, a 5.8% surprise, while revenue narrowly missed at $10.79B versus $10.81B expected. The $1 price point contributed roughly 70 basis points to comp sales growth, and delivery also added approximately 70 basis points. The company opened 190 new U.S. stores in Q1 and expanded its Mexico footprint to 21 stores. Capex outlook shifted from increasing to stable. Bullish score declined from 85 to 78.

Guidance delta

FY2026 EPS guidance was raised from $7.10-$7.35 to $7.20-$7.45. Management reaffirmed plans to complete 2,000 Project Renovate and 2,250 Project Elevate remodels, open approximately 450 new stores in FY26 including additional Mexico locations, and pilot a delivery subscription program later in the year. The capex outlook moved from increasing to stable.

Key takeaways

  • EPS of $2.00 beat the $1.89 consensus by 5.8%; revenue narrowly missed at $10.79B vs $10.81B expected.
  • Same-store sales rose 2%, decelerating from 4.3% in Q4, but marked the fourth consecutive quarter of sequential comp growth.
  • FY26 EPS guidance raised from $7.10-$7.35 to $7.20-$7.45.
  • The $1 price point contributed ~70 bps to comp sales growth; delivery also added ~70 bps.
  • 190 new U.S. stores opened in Q1; Mexico footprint expanded to 21 stores.

Management priorities

  • Expanding the $1 Value Valley assortment and frozen $1 section to drive traffic and basket size.
  • Scaling delivery from ~18,000 stores with a subscription pilot planned for later in the year.
  • Completing 2,000 Project Renovate and 2,250 Project Elevate remodels in FY26.
  • Opening approximately 450 new stores, including additional Mexico locations.
  • Growing DG Media Network advertising revenue and third-party partnerships.
  • Advancing AI operating system for enterprise-wide efficiency and continuing SKU rationalization.

Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-06-02T15:18:14.781363+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-30T16:31:31.263581+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-30T16:31:31.260785+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.