Why Dollar General Stock Soared Today

Dollar General (NYSE: DG) stock surged in Tuesday's trading after the company posted better-than-expected first-quarter results. The retail specialist's share price ended the day's session up 15.9%.

Dollar General published its first-quarter results after the market closed yesterday, and the company managed to significantly exceed Wall Street's sales and earnings targets for the period. In addition to topping sales and earnings expectations for the period, Dollar General also raised its full-year performance targets.

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Dollar General posts strong Q1 beats

Dollar General posted earnings per share of $1.78 on sales of $10.44 billion in Q1. The performance came in significantly better than the average analyst estimate, which had called for per-share earnings of $1.59 on revenue of $10.29 billion. Sales were up 5.3% year over year in the period, and same-store sales increased 2.4%. Earnings per share increased 7.9% year over year.

Dollar General's sales saw a significant uptick in Q1 thanks to strong same-store performance and new retail openings. While the company also closed locations and saw a 0.3% decline in overall customer traffic, a 2.7% increase for average transaction size more than offset the impact.

What's next for Dollar General?

In conjunction with its strong Q1 report, Dollar General has raised its full-year guidance. The retail specialist now expects same-store sales growth for the year to be between 1.5% and 2.5% -- up from management's previous guidance for growth between 1.2% and 2.2%.

Annual earnings per share are now projected to be between $5.20 and $5.80 -- up from previous guidance for a per-share profit between $5.10 and $5.80. Dollar General delivered a very strong quarter, but the stock's big pop today also reflects higher expectations going forward.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.