Goldman Sachs Comments on Family Dollar Stores Earnings

Goldman Sachs is out with its report today on Family Dollar Stores FDO, commenting on FDO's earnings. In a note to clients, Goldman Sachs writes, "DG reported EPS of $0.48, below $0.50 consensus as gross margins declined 63 bps yoy despite strong SSS of +5.4%. Gross margin weakness was driven by markdowns, higher freight costs and a $3.6mn LIFO charge (10 bps). As a result, we are lowering our FDO F11/12/13 EPS estimates to $3.10/$3.60/$4.07 from $3.15/$3.65/$4.08." Goldman Sachs maintains a $55 PT on FDO. At the time of posting, shares of FDO were trading at $54.17, down 1.15% from Wednesday's close.