Dollar General shares crater 20% as retailer cuts outlook, blaming ‘financially constrained’ customers

Dollar General shares tumbled on Thursday after the discount retailer slashed its sales and profit guidance for the full year, suggesting its lower-income customers are struggling in this economy.

Shares of the retailer which caters to more rural areas tumbled 20% in premarket trading following the earnings report.

The company now expects fiscal 2024 same-store sales to be up 1.0% to 1.6%, lower than prior outlook for a 2% to 2.7% increase. Earnings per share for the year is expected to be in the range of just $5.50 to $6.20, versus the prior forecast of $6.80 to $7.55 per share.

“While we believe the softer sales trends are partially attributable to a core customer who feels financially constrained, we know the importance of controlling what we can control,” said CEO Todd Vasos in a statement.

Dollar General also reported disappointing numbers for the latest quarter. EPS of $1.70 per share came in below an LSEG estimate of $1.79 per share, while revenue of $10.21 billion was also lower than the analyst expectation of $10.37 billion.

Competitor Dollar Tree was falling in sympathy, off by more than 6% in early trading.