Dollar Tree Stores (Nasdaq: DLTR) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, August 18. Dollar Tree operates discount variety stores in the United States. Its stores offer merchandise at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, and Dollar Bills.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts strongly back Dollar Tree Stores, with 11 of 20 rating it a buy and the remainder rating it a hold. Analysts like Dollar Tree Stores better than competitor Family Dollar Stores overall. Wall Street has warmed to the stock over the past three months, with analysts increasing their endorsement from hold to moderate buy.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $1.55 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 12.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.75 per share. Estimates range from $0.72 to $0.79.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 91% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars, with 91.9% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Dollar Tree Stores and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 177 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Dollar Tree Stores, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Dollar Tree Stores' profit has risen year over year by an average of 38.2% over the past five quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

35.0%

37.6%

35.5%

35.1%

Operating Margin

10.5%

15.0%

9.9%

9.3%

Net Margin

6.5%

9.4%

6.5%

5.7%

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