So, Dollar General is actually doing great

Well, we know where all the recession-anxious shoppers are taking their hard-earned dollars.

In its latest earnings report, Dollar General, the discount giant, beat analyst forecasts for the quarter for revenue and earnings, and now expects sales to grow around 3.7% to 4.7% in fiscal 2025. That’s up from the previously predicted 3.4% to 4.4%.

You might have already noticed: Not a lot of companies are raising forecasts right now. (More are doing the exact opposite.)

But Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos noted the company is “uniquely well-positioned to serve our customer in a variety of economic environments,” adding that it saw growth in both its core customer base and “trade-in customers,” or middle-income consumers shopping at the lower price point offered by the discount retailer. Breaking and urgent news: When people are worried about the economy, they try to save money.

And Dollar General’s strong earnings reflected that breaking news update. Net sales climbed to $10.4 billion, up 5.3% YoY. The company posted net income of $391.93 million, up from $363.32 the same time last year.

On an earnings call, Vasos noted that while Dollar General had “relatively low [tariff] exposure,” the company has been working to mitigate its dependence on China, ultimately reducing its “China exposure to less than 70% of [its] direct imports.”

Even so, Vasos noted that “the tariff landscape remains dynamic and uncertain,” but stressed that price increases would only be used “as a last resort,” adding that the company will “work to minimize them as much as possible.”

That will be crucial to retain Dollar General’s core customer base: lower-income shoppers, a group that stands to hurt the most from a bleak economic landscape.

“While the macro backdrop continues to be broadly unhelpful, with core lower income consumers still facing considerable pressure on their finances, this was mitigated during the quarter by consumers gently stocking up on things in anticipation of tariffs,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, told CFO Brew via email.