Why Dollar General, Ctrip.com International, and Ciena Slumped Today
Stocks had a positive showing on Thursday, with the major benchmarks gaining ground, again led by the Nasdaq Composite. Investors contemplated the growing cost of the devastation left by Hurricane Harvey as Vice President Mike Pence toured the flooded region. Additionally, the Trump administration tapped into U.S. emergency oil reserves in the wake of the storm, which has shuttered nearly 20% of the country's oil-refining capacity. Company-specific news weighed on certain stocks, with Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG), Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP), and Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) among the worst performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.
Shares of Dollar General fell 5.4% following the release the company's fiscal second-quarter report. The dollar store retailer said that sales of $5.83 billion jumped 8.1% over the year-ago period, resulting in diluted earnings per share of $1.08. Investors had been expecting earnings of $1.09 on revenue of $5.8 billion. The company also reported same-store sales increased 2.6% over the prior-year quarter. Due to the better-than-expected results, Dollar General increased the lower end of its full-year forecast for earnings per share to a range of $4.35 to $4.50.
This all seems like mostly good news, so why is the stock falling? Investors may be reacting to the even better financial report last week by competitor Dollar Tree, which used cost-cutting to achieve a 36% increase in profitability, setting a high bar for the retailer.
Source: Fool.com
