Dollar General sheds 6% after holiday quarter results disappoint; Dollar Tree also lower
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Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) fell sharply in early trading on Thursday after the retailer posted a guidance update with preliminary Q4 results below expectations. 
Despite continued market share gains in sales of both consumable and non-consumable products, same-store sales Q4 increased 5.7% vs. the guidance range of +6% to +7% and 6.6% consensus. Dollar General (DG) now expects EPS for the holiday quarter to fall in a range of $2.91 to $2.96 vs. $3.15 to $3.30 prior view. The EPS mark was well short of the consensus estimate of $3.26.
Dollar General (DG) noted the lower-than-expected results are primarily attributable to lower-than-anticipated sales and higher-than-anticipated inventory damages. Winter Storm Elliott was called a negative factor during the quarter. 
The company plans to issue its full earnings report on March 16.
Shares of Dollar General (DG) were down 5.88% in the premarket session, while peer Dollar Tree (DLTR) was down 2.75%.