Why Dollar General Stock Got Cheaper Today

Shares of modern day five-and-dime super-chain Dollar General (NYSE: DG) slipped lower on Thursday, down 3.3% as of 12:45 p.m. ET despite beating projections on third-quarter earnings this morning. Analysts had forecast Dollar General would earn $2.01 per share on sales of just under $8.5 billion in fiscal Q3. Rising operating costs, however, resulted in a much bigger decline in operating profit margin -- down 160 basis points to 7.8% -- and net profit margin was somewhere in between -- down 130 basis points at 5.7%.