Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO) Slips Pre-Bell as Q3 Adjusted Earnings Miss Street View

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO) shares declined slightly in Thursday’s pre-market session, after the discount retailer reported fiscal Q3 earnings that fell short of Street estimates despite a revenue beat. Still, the company’s earnings forecasts for Q4 and the fiscal year bracketed analysts’ expectations. FDO was down 0.9% at $63.65 in recent pre-market trading, in a 52-week range of $55.64 to $75.29.

For the quarter ended May 31, 2014, the company reported net income of $81.1 million, or $0.71 per share, down from $120.9 million, or $1.05 per share, for the quarter ended June 1, 2013. Excluding one-time items, it earned $0.86 per share in the latest quarter, below the $0.89 per share the Street expected, according to Capital IQ.

Net sales rose 3.3% to $2.66 billion, topping the $2.6 billion analysts expected. Same-store sales for the 13-week period fell 1.8% as a result of fewer customer transactions, partially offset by an increase in the average customer transaction value.

For Q4, Family Dollar expects comparable-store sales will be approximately flat and earnings per diluted share will be between $0.75 and $0.85, excluding approximately $0.37 related to restructuring charges. The Street was expecting earnings of $0.78 per share excluding one-time items.

For the 52-week year ending Aug. 30, 2014, Family Dollar expects earnings per diluted share will be between $3.07 and $3.17, excluding approximately $0.51 per share related to restructuring charges. The Street was looking for fiscal 2014 adjusted earnings of $3.14 per share.