MW: Dollar Tree first-quarter profit beats estimates
By Saumya Vaishampayan
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Dollar Tree Inc. DLTR +5.00% said Thursday its first-quarter profit rose to $138.3 million, or 67 cents a share, from $133.5 million, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier. Net sales rose to $2.00 billion from $1.87 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 66 cents a share on sales of $2.01 billion. The discount retailer said it expects second-quarter per-share earnings of 58 cents to 64 cents on sales of $1.97 billion to $2.02 billion. For the full year, Dollar Tree said it now expects per-share earnings of $2.94 to $3.12 on sales of $8.37 billion to $8.54 billion. Dollar Tree had previously expected full-year per-share earnings of $2.91 to $3.13 on sales of $8.35 billion to $8.58 billion. Shares rose 1.6% in light premarket trade.
