Dollar Tree Profit, Sales Rise Above Forecasts

Dollar Tree reported on Thursday a fiscal third-quarter profit that rose to $133 million, or 64 cents a share, from $125.4 million, or 58 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted per-share earnings were 69 cents, above the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of 64 cents. Total sales rose 11% to $2.10 billion, and same-store sales grew 5.9%, topping analyst forecasts of $2.07 billion and 4.1%, respectively. For the fourth quarter, the discount retailer expects adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.07 to $1.14, and revenue of $2.39 billion to $2.46 billion, compared with analyst projections of $1.13 and $2.46 billion, respectively. Shares of Dollar Tree, which is in the process of acquiring rival Family Dollar , which is also being courted by larger rival Dollar General , rose 1.6% in premarket trade on very light volume. The stock has gained 11% year to date through Wednesday, the same as the S&P 500.