On Feb. 28, Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Feb. 3.

  • Sales rose 22% as both traffic and the average transaction size increased.
  • Gross margins improved by 40 basis points. Unfortunately, those gains could not be leveraged further down the income statement, as the operating and the net margin fell.
  • The company spent about $248 million for share repurchases in fiscal 2006, including $100 million through an accelerated share repurchase in the fourth quarter.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change

Sales

$1,318.9

$1,079.0

22.2%

Net Profit

$97.6

$86.5

12.8%

EPS

$0.96

$0.81

18.5%

Diluted Shares

101.5

106.8

(5.0%)



Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change*

Gross Margin

35.7%

35.3%

0.4

Operating Margin

11.8%

12.7%

(0.9)

Net Margin

7.4%

8.0%

(0.6)

*Expressed in percentage points

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$306.8

$339.8

(9.7%)

Inventory

$605.0

$576.5

4.9%



Liabilities

Q4 2007

Q4 2006

Change

Accounts Payable

$189.2

$135.6

39.5%

Long-Term Debt

$250.0

$250.0

0.0%



Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

YTD 2007

YTD 2006

Change

Cash From Ops.

$412.8

$365.1

13.1%

Capital Expenditures

$175.3

$139.2

25.9%

Free Cash Flow

$237.5

$225.9

5.1%



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