What happened
Shares of Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR -0.21%) were up 9.5% as of 1 p.m. EDT Thursday after the specialty discount retailer announced strong fiscal second-quarter 2017 results.
More specifically, Dollar Tree's revenue climbed 5.7% year over year to $5.28 billion, helped by a 2.4% increase in consolidated same-store sales. On the bottom line, that translated to net income of $233.8 million, and 36.1% growth in earnings per diluted share to $0.98. Analysts, on average, were only expecting earnings of $0.87 per share on revenue of $5.24 billion.
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So what
"Both Dollar Tree and Family Dollar produced positive same-store sales, our enterprise operating margin improved 80 basis points and earnings per share exceeded the high end of our guidance range," said Dollar Tree CEO Bob Sasser, adding: "Consumers continue to view Dollar Tree and Family Dollar as stores that provide great value and convenience."
To be sure, same-store sales for the Dollar Tree concept climbed 3.9% year over year, while comps for Family Dollar locations grew 1% -- both admirable achievements in today's difficult retail environment.
Now what
For the current quarter, Dollar Tree expects revenue to be in the range of $5.2 billion to $5.29 billion, assuming a low-single-digit increase in consolidated same-store sales, and earnings per diluted share of $0.83 to $0.90.
In addition, Dollar Tree increased its guidance for the full year to call for fiscal 2017 revenue of $22.07 billion to $22.28 billion (up from $21.95 billion to $22.25 billion previously), and earnings per diluted share between $4.44 and $4.60 (up from $4.17 to $4.43 previously).
In the end, this was a straightforward beat-and-raise scenario from Dollar Tree. With shares down nearly 23% over the past year as of yesterday's close, it's no surprise to see Dollar Tree stock rebounding today.
