(Reuters) – Dollar Tree Inc missed market estimates for holiday-quarter sales on Wednesday as competition from big-box retailers increased, while demand for party supplies and other non-essential products came under pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analysts have said sales at dollar stores have come under pressure, with people increasingly wanting to buy everything, from cheap toilet paper to higher-priced electronics, under one roof due to fears of catching the new coronavirus.
Net income rose to $502.8 million, or $2.13 per share, from $123 million, or 52 cents per share, a year earlier.
Net sales rose to $6.77 billion in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30 from $6.32 billion a year earlier, but missed estimates of $6.79 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Dollar Tree also announced a $2 billion increase to its stock buyback plan, leaving it with $2.4 billion to repurchase shares.
Shares in Dollar Tree were down 1% in premarket trade.
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
