=Dollar Tree (DLTR) reported earnings on Wed 7 March 2018 (b/o)

Dollar Tree misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs in-line; guides FY19 EPS below consensus, revs in-line; Q4 Enterprise same-store sales increased 2.4% on a constant currency basis 

• Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $1.89 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.90; revenues rose 12.9% year/year to $6.36 bln vs the $6.39 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issues guidancefor Q1, sees EPS of $1.18-1.25, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.29 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $5.53-5.63 bln vs. $5.6 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Guidance Details: Q1 guidance is based on single-digit increase in same-store sales for the combined enterprise. 
• Co issues guidancefor FY19, sees EPS of $5.25-5.60, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $5.72 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY19 revs of $22.7-23.12 bln vs. $23.1 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. FY18 guidance is based on a low single-digit increase in same-store sales and 3.7% square footage growth.
• Enterprise same-store sales increased 2.4% on a constant currency basis.Adjusted to include the impact of Canadian currency fluctuations, the enterprise same-store sales increase was 2.5%. The same-store sales growth was driven by increases in average ticket and comparable transaction count.
• Same-store sales for the Dollar Tree banner increased 3.8% on a constant currency basis (or 3.9% when adjusted to include the impact of Canadian currency fluctuations). Same-store sales for the Family Dollar banner increased 1.0%. Gross profit increased 16.3% to $2.10 billion compared to $1.81 billion in the prior year's fourth quarter.
• As a percentage of sales, gross margin increased to 33.0% compared to 32.1% in the prior year. As noted previously, the Company benefited in the fourth quarter and fiscal 2017 with respect to the TCJA. The Company expects to continue to benefit going forward and currently estimates the benefit to be approximately $250 million for fiscal 2018.