Retail

Why Analysts Are Backing Off Dollar Tree

Thinkstock

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) reported weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, and there was a very strong reaction from investors pushing the shares much lower. While this settled down and the stock made a small recovery on Thursday, analysts are taking shots at the dollar store and cutting their targets.

24/7 Wall St. has included some brief highlights from the earnings report, as well as what analysts said about Dollar Tree afterward.

The dollar store said that it had $1.89 in earnings per share (EPS) on $6.36 billion in revenue, which compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $1.90 in EPS on revenue of $6.39 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $1.36 and $5.64 billion in revenue.

During the quarter, enterprise same-store sales increased 2.4% on a constant currency basis. The same-store sales growth was driven by increases in average ticket and comparable transaction count. Same-store sales for the Dollar Tree banner increased 3.8% on a constant currency basis (or 3.9% when adjusted to include the impact of Canadian currency fluctuations). Same-store sales for the Family Dollar banner increased 1.0%.

Looking ahead to the fiscal first quarter, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $1.18 to $1.25 and revenues between $5.53 billion and $5.63 billion. The consensus estimates are $1.31 in EPS on $5.6 billion in revenue.

Here’s what analysts had to say following the report:

  • Morgan Stanley has an Equal Weight rating and lowered its price target to $101 from $112.
  • Raymond James has a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $110 from $124.
  • MKM Partners downgraded it to Hold from Buy and lowered its target to $98 from $124.
  • Buckingham Research has a Buy rating and lowered its price target from $135 to $114.
  • BMO Capital Markets has a Hold rating with a $97 price target.
  • Barclays upgraded it to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its target to $100.
  • Telsey Advisory Group has an Outperform rating but lowered its target from $130 to $105.
  • Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating but lowered its target price to $119 from $137.

Shares of Dollar Tree were last seen up 2.6% at $91.60 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst price target of $117.73 and a 52-week range of $65.63 to $116.65.

The Average American Is Losing Momentum on Their Savings Every Day (Sponsor)

If you’re like many Americans and keep your money ‘safe’ in a checking or savings account, think again. The average yield on a savings account is a paltry .4%* today. Checking accounts are even worse.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying nearly 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.

* https://www.fdic.gov/national-rates-and-rate-caps

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.

AI Portfolio

Discover Our Top AI Stocks

Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.

You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.