Dollar General Corp.

Q1 performance strong—especially EPS; sales growth driven by traffic + basket - Net sales: +$3.4% to $10.8B (vs. $10.4B Q1’25). - Same-store sales: +2.0%, driven by traffic +1.4% and average basket +0.5%. - Market share: management said they gained share in dollars and units in consumables and also non-consumables. - Comp cadence: all 3 periods positive, led by March (Easter shift). - Negative impact in Q1: severe winter storm activity + temporary store closures in early Feb hurt the first two weeks.

Margin + profitability upside: gross margin expansion from shrink control; SG&A slightly up - Gross margin (% sales): 31.6%, +65 bps YoY (boosted by higher inventory markups, lower shrink, lower inventory damages; partially offset by markdowns and transportation costs). - Shrink: management highlighted 28 bps reduction vs. prior year, even while lapping a 61 bps improvement in Q1’25. - Operating profit: +$10.8% to $638.5M; operating margin 5.9% (+40 bps), despite higher-than-anticipated field costs. - EPS: +$12.4% to $2.00, above the high end of internal expectations (surprising positive vs expectations).

Guidance raised for 2026 (top-line modest growth; EPS up); tax rate assumed higher - Net sales growth: +3.7% to +4.2% (implies continued mid-single digit growth). - Same-store sales growth: +2.2% to +2.7%. - EPS guidance: $7.20 to $7.45, raised from $7.10 to $7.35 prior. - Effective tax rate assumption: now about ~24.5% (Q1 effective tax rate was 24.9% vs 23.4% last year, driven by expiration of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit). - Capex/real estate: capital spending guidance unchanged per CFO.