Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) could benefit from higher gas prices as it reports first-quarter results Tuesday before the market opens. Analysts outlined key expectations and areas to watch heading into the print. Analysts expect the retailer to report first-quarter revenue of $10.83 billion, up from $10.44 billion a year earlier, according to Benzinga Pro data. The company has topped revenue estimates in six straight quarters and nine of the last 10.
First-quarter earnings per share are expected at $1.90 versus $1.78 a year ago. Dollar General has beaten EPS estimates in five consecutive quarters and eight of the last 10.
What Analysts Are Saying
Bank of America Securities analyst Robert Ohmes maintained a Buy rating and a price target of $175 on Dollar General back in March.
The analyst highlighted the company's gross margin opportunities and revenue momentum thanks to new store formats.
Here are other recent analyst ratings on Dollar General stock and their price targets:
- Oppenheimer: Maintained Outperform rating, lowered price target from $170 to $150
- Truist Securities: Maintained Hold rating, lowered price target from $139 to $109
- Evercore ISI Group: Maintained In-Line rating, lowered price target from $150 to $145
Dollar General could benefit from high gas prices for consumers in the quarter.
A Placer.ai report shows strong same store visits growth for recent months, including higher growth than peer company Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ: DLTR). Here are the recent monthly same-store visits growth figures from Placer.ai on a year-over-year basis:
- January: Dollar General +4.6%, Dollar Tree +0.2%
- February: Dollar General +4.8%, Dollar Tree +1.8%
- March: Dollar General +1.9%, Dollar Tree -0.6%
- April: Dollar General +2.3%, Dollar Tree -3.5%
Also potentially helping Dollar General are its higher rate of visits from a short distance. The report said that 12.4% of visits to Dollar General came from within a half mile, compared to 7.3% for Dollar Tree visits. Dollar General also had higher visit growth from visits that came from within 0.5 miles to 1 mile at 15.6% compared to 13.0% for Dollar Tree.
With gas prices high in the months of March and April, consumers may have made more visits to Dollar General locations that are close by instead of taking trips to larger grocery stores like Walmart, Target or other regional grocery retailers.
Dollar Tree recently reported quarterly results with revenue and earnings per share beating analyst estimates, suggesting that the quarter visits growth helped boost financials. Net sales were up 7.2% year-over-year for Dollar Tree in the quarter, with comparable-store sales up 3.5%.
Dollar Tree executives said that consumers remain cautious due to higher gas prices, tariff uncertainties and macroeconomic pressures. Consumers are focused on affordability and convenience, going to stores that are closer.
Strong guidance from Dollar Tree could suggest it is in for a strong quarterly report as well.
Price Action
Dollar General stock is down 1.3% to $109.23 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $95.11 to $158.23. The company's stock price is down 17.7% year-to-date in 2026.
Dollar Tree stock is down 10.5% year-to-date in 2026, helped by a recent 21.7% increase over the last five days with a post-earnings rally.