Family Dollar Stores' Earnings Beat Last Year's by 17%

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Family Dollar Stores (NYS: FDO) reported earnings on March 28. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Feb. 25 (Q2), Family Dollar Stores met expectations on revenues and beat slightly on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue improved and GAAP earnings per share grew significantly.


Gross margins dropped, operating margins increased, net margins improved.

Revenue details
Family Dollar Stores reported revenue of $2.46 billion. The 23 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for sales of $2.46 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 8.6% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.26 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $1.15. The 23 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $1.13 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.15 for Q2 were 17% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.98 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 34.9%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 9.0%, 10 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 5.5%, 10 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.36 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.06.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $9.31 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.65.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 551 members out of 600 rating the stock outperform, and 49 members rating it underperform. Among 181 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 169 give Family Dollar Stores a green thumbs-up, and 12 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average price target is $58.52.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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