CluenexDollar General Corporation DG
Dollar General Corporation scores average on business quality (5.3 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Dollar General Corporation does
Dollar General operates a massive discount retail chain, selling everyday consumables, snacks, and seasonal items to value-conscious shoppers through thousands of small-format neighborhood stores. The company is leaning into supply chain efficiencies and tariff refund strategies to protect its low-price advantage as freight and supplier costs pressure margins.
- What it does best
Dollar General excels at rural and small-town market penetration, building dense store networks where major big-box rivals rarely tread. Its gross margin sits at 31.2%, easily outpacing Costco's 12.8% and matching the deep-discount density that locks out direct local copycats.
- The main risk
Rising fuel, freight, and supplier expenses directly bite into margins, squeezing profitability before cost savings can be realized. With an operating margin of just 5.6%, any unexpected supply chain friction leaves little room for operational error.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margin of 5.6% and net margin of 3.9% reflect intense cost pressures, resulting in a weak profitability score that dampens scale earnings.
Its local geographic footprint creates a severe physical convenience barrier, ranking in the 68th percentile for revenue growth among peers.
Revenue grew 5.2% to $43.6B, showing steady top-line expansion that outpaces its historical pace while maintaining rural footprint density.
Debt-to-equity stands at 0.5x with interest covered 12x over, backed by $2.0B in free cash flow. The balance sheet is holding firm.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
1 sold $733K outside pre-planned sales.
Our sealed record on DG
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Dollar General Corporation scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.3 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat fair, growth slow and financial health strong.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 sold $733K outside pre-planned sales.
Dec 2, 2026.
See DG today
- Today's verdict on DG, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Dollar General Corporation (DG)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/dg/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.