Dollar General guided to $7.20 to $7.45 a share for the year. Will it raise that forecast when it reports Aug 27?

Dollar General raised its fiscal 2026 diluted EPS guidance to $7.80-$8.00 when it reported second-quarter results on August 27, 2026, up from the prior $7.20-$7.45 range. The company also lifted its net sales growth outlook to 4.0-4.3% (from 3.7-4.2%) and its same-store sales growth target to 2.5-2.9% (from 2.2-2.7%). The raise followed a stronger-than-expected quarter: diluted EPS of $2.48 beat consensus estimates near $2.00, net sales rose 5.2% to $11.29 billion, and same-store sales grew 3.5% on gains in both customer traffic and average transaction size. Gross margin expanded to 32.6% from 31.3%, with tariff refunds contributing roughly 81 basis points to that improvement and an estimated $0.25 to diluted EPS. Management cited continued momentum in its value-focused merchandise strategy and cost-control initiatives as additional factors supporting the improved outlook. The report landed amid a broader discount-retail earnings season in which investors were watching for signs that value-seeking consumer behavior was persisting; shares rose roughly 5-9% in the session following the release, contrasting with a decline for peer Dollar Tree, which reported separately. Ahead of the release, community sentiment on this market was evenly split at 50% YES, making the eventual raise essentially a coin-flip outcome relative to prior expectations.