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SACRAMENTO — Top California health officials warned that federal cuts will deliver a devastating blow to public health, even as the state grapples with ways to mitigate the damage.

“These changes will impact our emergency departments, rural hospitals, private and public hospitals, community health centers, ambulance providers and the broader health care system that serves every community,” said Michelle Baass, director of the California Department of Health Care Services.

Baass was among several experts who spoke Monday at a briefing about the effects of HR 1, a massive tax and spending bill passed by the Republican-led Congress and signed by President Trump that shifts federal funding away from safety-net programs for the vulnerable and toward tax cuts and immigration enforcement. She said the legislation makes sweeping changes to Medi-Cal, as Medicaid is known in California.

It “will cause widespread harm by making massive reductions in federal funding and potentially cripple the health care safety net,” Baass said. “These changes put tens of billions of dollars of federal funding at risk for California and could result in a loss of coverage for millions of Californians.”

Roughly 15 million Californians — a third of the state — are on Medi-Cal, with some of the highest percentages being in rural counties. More than half of the children in California receive healthcare coverage through Medi-Cal, healthcare coverage provided to eligible, low-income residents, according to the state Department of Health Care Services.

California officials expect the state to lose billions of dollars in federal funding for Medi-Cal and other essential healthcare programs. Given that California is facing an ongoing budget deficit, it is highly unlikely that the state will be able to raise enough money to make up for the loss in funding to continue the current level of services to residents, according to a report by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Baass explained the federal legislation creates new eligibility requirements for Medicaid. Starting in 2027, many individuals ages 19 to 64 will need to work for at least 80 hours a month, or perform 80 hours of community service or be enrolled in an educational program, to qualify. The law allows various exemptions, including pregnancy, disabilities, or caring for children under the age of 19.

She estimated 3 million Medi-Cal recipients could lose coverage as a result.

“This would significantly drive up the uninsured rate that raises cost for hospitals treating uninsured patients,” Baass said.

Baass said HR 1, which Republicans labeled the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” also bans abortion providers from receiving federal Medicaid funding — even for healthcare services they offer that are not related to the procedure — and reduces federal dollars for emergency medical care for undocumented immigrants. It additionally limits state funding mechanisms, such as taxes paid by managed care providers, and establishes federal penalties for improper payments.

CalFresh, the state name for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is expecting cuts of at least $1.7 billion annually, said Jennifer Troia, director of the California Department of Social Services. About 395,000 people could lose their benefits for government food assistance.

SNAP benefits are also being hit by the current government shutdown, with payments halting in November.

At the heart of the shutdown is a political standoff in Washington over the expiring tax credits for people who get health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Democrats said they will not vote to reopen the government until Republicans agree to renew the expanded subsidies. Republican leaders refused to negotiate until Democrats vote to reopen the government.

Covered California, the state’s Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace, estimated over the summer that as many as 660,000 of the roughly 2 million people in the program will either be stripped of coverage or drop out because of increased cost and the onerous new mandates to stay enrolled.

Impacts from the new federal cuts and policies are already being felt across the state and nation.

A Planned Parenthood program in Orange and San Bernardino counties announced its imminent closure earlier this month due to being federally defunded. Los Angeles County’s health system has implemented a hiring freeze and is bracing to lose $750 million per year for the county Department of Health Services, which oversees four public hospitals and roughly two dozen clinics. Meanwhile, food banks nationwide are seeking donations and preparing for longer lines.

Kim Johnson, secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency, discussed how California is fighting back.

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently announced he is deploying the National Guard and fast-tracking $80 million to support food banks, she said. This came alongside the governor’s decision to allocate $140 million in state funding to Planned Parenthood.

Johnson said Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has filed more than two dozen lawsuits related to HR 1.

“Here in California,” she said, “we will continue to mitigate the harm of these federal changes wherever we can.”

Would the Dodgers have paid $4 million for Shohei Ohtani’s production on Friday night?

“Maybe I would have,” team owner Mark Walter said with a laugh.

Four million dollars is how much Ohtani has received from the Dodgers.

Not for the game. Not for the week. Not for the year.

For this year and last year.

Ohtani could be the greatest player in baseball history. Is he also the greatest free-agent acquisition of all-time?

“You bet,” Walter said.

Even before Ohtani blasted three homers and struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings in a historic performance to secure his team’s place in the World Series, the Dodgers were a target of complaints over the perception they were buying championships. Their payroll this season is more than $416 million, according to Spotrac.

During the on-field celebration that followed the 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, manager Dave Roberts told the Dodger Stadium crowd, “I’ll tell you, before this season started, they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball. Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball!”

What detractors ignore is how the Dodgers aren’t the only team that spent big dollars this year to chase a title. As Ohtani’s contract demonstrates, it’s how they spend that separates them from the sport’s other wealthy franchises.

The New York Mets spent more than $340 million, the New York Yankees $319 million and the Philadelphia Phillies $308 million. None of them are still playing.

The Dodgers are still playing, and one of the reasons is because of how opportunistic they are.

When the Boston Red Sox were looking for a place to dump Mookie Betts before he became a free agent, the Dodgers traded for him and signed him to an extension. When the Atlanta Braves refused to extend a six-year offer to Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers stepped in and did.

Something else that helps: Players want to play for them.

Consider the case of the San Francisco Giants, who can’t talk star players into taking their money.

The Giants pursued Bryce Harper, who turned them down. They pursued Aaron Judge, who turned them down. They pursued Ohtani, who turned them down. They pursued Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who turned them down.

Notice a pattern?

Unable to recruit an impact hitter in free agency, the Giants turned their attention to the trade market and acquired a distressed asset in malcontent Rafael Devers. They still missed the postseason.

The Dodgers don’t have any such problems attracting talent. Classified as an international amateur because he was under the age of 25, Roki Sasaki was eligible to sign only a minor-league contract this winter. While the signing bonuses that could be offered varied from team to team, the differences were relatively small. Sasaki was urged by his agent to minimize financial considerations when picking a team.

Sasaki chose the Dodgers.

Players such as Blake Snell, Will Smith and Max Muncy signed what could be below-market deals to come to or stay with the Dodgers.

There is also the Ohtani factor.

Ohtani didn’t want the team that signed him to be financially hamstrung, which is why he insisted that it defer the majority of his 10-year, $700-million contract. The Dodgers are paying Ohtani just $2 million annually, with the remainder owed after he retires.

Without Ohtani agreeing to delayed payments, who knows if the Dodgers would have signed the other pitchers who comprise their dominant rotation, Yamamoto, Snell and Tyler Glasnow.

None of this is to say the Dodgers haven’t made any mistakes, the $102 million they committed to Trevor Bauer a decision they would certainly like to take back.

But the point is they spend.

“We put money into the team, as you know,” Walter said. “We’re trying to win.”

Nothing is stopping any other team from making the financial commitments necessary to compete with the Dodgers. Franchises don’t have to make annual profits to be lucrative, as their values have skyrocketed. Teams that were purchased for hundreds of millions of dollars are now worth billions.

Example: Arte Moreno bought the Angels in 2003 for $183.5 million. Forbes values them today at $2.75 billion. If or when Moreno sells the team, he will receive a huge return on his investment.

The calls for a salary cap are nothing more than justifications by cheap owners for their refusal to invest in the civic institutions under their control.

The Dodgers aren’t ruining baseball. They might not do everything right, but as far as their spending is concerned, they’re doing right by their fans.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s libertarian leader is lavishing praise on President Trump ahead of his first White House visit on Tuesday. It’s a tactic that has helped transform President Javier Milei ’s cash-strapped country into one of the Trump administration’s closest allies.

The effusive declarations are nothing new for Milei — whose dramatic cuts to state spending and attacks on “woke leftists” have won him a following among U.S. conservatives.

“Your commitment to life, freedom and peace has restored hope to the world,” Milei wrote on social media Monday, congratulating the U.S. president on securing a ceasefire deal in Gaza, where a truce is holding after a devastating, two-year Israel-Hamas war.

“It is an honor to consider you not only an ally in the defense of those values, but also a dear friend and an example of leadership that inspires all those who believe in freedom,” he said.

The Trump-Milei bromance has already paid off for Argentina — most recently, to the tune of a $20 billion bailout.

Experts say Milei comes to the White House with two clear objectives. One is to negotiate U.S. tariff exemptions or reductions for Argentine products.

The other is to see how the United States will implement a $20 billion currency swap line to prop up Argentina’s peso and replenish its depleted foreign currency reserves ahead of crucial midterm elections later this month.

In a crisis, turning to Trump

The Trump administration made a highly unusual decision to intervene in Argentina’s currency market after Milei’s party suffered a landslide loss in a local election last month.

Along with setbacks in the opposition-dominated Congress, the party’s crushing defeat created a crisis of confidence as voters in Buenos Aires Province registered their frustration with rising unemployment, contracting economic activity and brewing corruption scandals.

Alarmed that this could herald the end of popular support for Milei’s free-market program, investors dumped Argentine bonds and sold off the peso.

Argentina’s Treasury began hemorrhaging precious dollar reserves at a feverish pace, trying shore up the currency and keep its exchange rate within the trading band set as part of the country’s recent $20 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund.

But as the peso continued to slide, Milei grew desperate.

He met with Trump on Sept. 23 while in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. A flurry of back-slapping, hand-shaking and mutual flattery between the two quickly gave way to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly promising Argentina a lifeline of $20 billion.

Markets cheered, and investors breathed a sigh of relief.

Timing is everything

In the days that followed, Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo spent hours in meetings in Washington trying to seal the deal.

Reassurance came last Thursday, when Bessent announced that the U.S. would allow Argentina to exchange up to $20 billion worth of pesos for an equal sum in dollars. Saying that the success of Milei’s program was “of systemic importance,” Bessent added that the U.S. Treasury directly purchased an unspecified amount of pesos.

For the Trump administration, the timing was awkward as it struggles to manage the optics of bailing out a nine-time serial defaulter in the middle of a U.S. government shutdown that has led to mass layoffs.

But for Argentina, it came in the nick of time.

Aware of how a weak currency could threaten his flagship achievement of taming inflation and hurt his popularity, Milei hopes to stave off what many economists see as an inescapable currency devaluation until after the the Oct. 26 midterm elections.

A devaluation of the peso would likely fuel a resurgence in inflation.

“Milei is going to the U.S. in a moment of desperation now,” said Marcelo J. García, political analyst and Director for the Americas at the Horizon Engage political risk consultancy firm.

“He needs to recreate market expectations and show that his program can be sustainable,” García added. “The government is trying to win some time to make it to the midterms without major course corrections, like devaluing or floating the peso.”

No strings attached

Milei was vague when pressed for details on his talks with Trump, expected later on Tuesday. Officials say he would have a two-hour meeting with the U.S. president, followed by a working lunch with other top officials.

He was also expected to participate in a ceremony at the White House honoring Charlie Kirk, the prominent right-wing political activist who was fatally shot last month. Milei often crossed paths with Kirk on the speaking circuit of the ascendant global right.

“We don’t have a single-issue agenda, but rather a multi-issue agenda,” Milei told El Observador radio in Buenos Aires Monday. “Things that are already finalized will be announced, and things that still need to be finalized will remain pending.”

It’s not clear what strings, if any, the Trump administration has attached to the currency swap deal, which Democratic lawmakers and other critics have slammed as an example of Trump rewarding loyalists at the expense of American taxpayers.

There has been no word on how Argentina, the IMF’s largest debtor, will end up paying the U.S. back for this $20 billion, which comes on top of IMF’s own loan for the same amount in April. And that one came on top of an earlier IMF loan for $40 billion.

Despite all the help, Milei’s government already missed the IMF’s early targets for rebuilding currency reserves.

“The U.S. should be concerned that Argentina has had to return for $20 billion so quickly after getting $14 billion upfront from the IMF,” said Brad Setser, a former Treasury official now at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“I worry that this may prove to just be a short-term bridge and won’t leave Argentina better equipped” to tackle its problems, he added.

But in the radio interview before his flight, Milei was upbeat. He gushed about U.S. support saving Argentina from “the local franchise of 21st-century socialism” and waxed poetic about Argentina’s economic potential.

“There will be an avalanche of dollars,” Milei said. “We’ll have dollars pouring out of our ears.”

Debre writes for the Associated Press.

Dollar Tree (DLTR 5.68%) stock has been doing fairly well this year, up 17% entering trading this week, which is better than the S&P 500‘s gain of 11%. But in recent weeks, Dollar Tree’s stock has been in a tailspin, reaching levels it hasn’t been at in months. It recently was down about 26% from its high of $118.06.

What’s behind the stock’s sharp sell-off, and could there be more trouble ahead for Dollar Tree investors? Here’s what you need to know about why it’s been doing so poorly, what could impact its future performance, and whether it’s worth buying the retail stock on the dip.

Image source: Getty Images.

The sell-off began after its second-quarter results came out

On Sept. 3, Dollar Tree released its second-quarter results for fiscal 2025. That day, the stock would fall by more than 8% and its decline would continue in the following weeks.

Overall, the quarter wasn’t a bad one for Dollar Tree. Same-store net sales rose by 6.5% for the period ending Aug. 2 and operating income of $231 million rose by 7% year over year. Investors, however, may have been worried about what lies ahead for the business in upcoming quarters.

On the company’s earnings call, CEO Michael Creedon did allude to tariff risk ahead.

“The timing of the impacts of tariffs and our mitigation activities played out differently than we originally anticipated, with some of the net positive benefits of our mitigation initiatives coming earlier in Q2 and the tariff impacts shifting to later in the year,” he said. 

Tariffs have been a big concern for investors this year and while Dollar Tree is planning to mitigate those potential headwinds as best as it can, it could mean that worse results may be on the horizon for the discount retailer. A big test may be looming for the company when it reports results later this year, and investors may be hesitant to hold on to the retail stock given the uncertainty.

Why it may not be all bad news for Dollar Tree investors

Although tariffs may negatively impact Dollar Tree’s top and bottom lines, the company is giving itself more of a buffer these days by introducing a greater variety of products that are priced between $3 and $5. While the vast majority of its products still cost consumers less than $2, the expansion into higher-priced items can help it appeal to a wider range of shoppers.

During the quarter, Creedon said that households earning $100,000 or more were a “meaningful portion of our Q2 growth,” and that’s been part of an emerging trend for Dollar Tree as consumers look for ways to trim their budgets.

Dollar Tree is in a good position where both low-income and high-income shoppers may see a reason to go to its stores. With a solid comparable store growth rate, it’s proving that the business may be more resilient than other retailers.

Is Dollar Tree stock a good buy?

The decline in Dollar Tree’s stock in recent weeks doesn’t put it anywhere near its 52-week low of $60.49, but it does bring its price-to-earnings multiple down to around 17. That’s well below where the average S&P 500 stock trades — a multiple of nearly 26.

Tariffs may be a concern for the company in the short term, but over the long run it’s not likely to weigh on the business because policies may change and Dollar Tree will have more time to adapt. The stock’s reasonable valuation combined with the company’s continued strong results makes it a solid investment to consider today.

A top Trump administration official on Wednesday said the U.S. Department of Energy will cut billions of dollars in funding for energy projects in Democratic states.

“Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being canceled,” said Russell Vought, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, in a post on X.

“The projects are in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA,” Vought said.

All 16 states listed did not vote for Trump in the 2024 election.

Vought said more information about the cuts would come from the U.S. Department of Energy, which also announced this week that it will open 13 million acres of federal lands for coal mining and provide $625 million to recommission or modernize coal-fired power plants.

In a news release, the department confirmed that it had terminated more than 300 financial awards associated with 223 projects, amounting to $7.56 billion. The department did not specify the project names or locations, but said the awards had been issued by multiple offices, including the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and the Office Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

According to the DOE, the projects were canceled following a review that found they did not “adequately advance the nation’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.” About a quarter of the awards had been issued by the Biden administration between election day in November and Trump’s inauguration in January, the agency said.

California Senator Adam Schiff said Vought’s post amounts to political retaliation.

“Our democracy is badly broken when a president can illegally suspend projects for Blue states in order to punish his political enemies,” Schiff wrote on X. “They continue to break the law, and expect us to go along. Hell no.”

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro described the move as “purely vindictive” and said it will result in higher energy prices across the country.

“Terminating critical energy projects in Democratic states weaponizes policy for political revenge and will only drive energy bills higher, increase unemployment, and eliminate jobs,” DeLauro said in a statement. “It is reckless and betrays both common sense and public trust.”

California and other states on Vought’s list have been working to advance clean energy projects such as solar power and offshore wind. Republican states working on similar efforts — such as Texas, the largest producer of wind energy in the U.S. — were not among Vought’s list of cuts, despite also receiving funding from the Department of Energy.

Vought, one of the authors of the conservative platform document Project 2025, has been actively involved in reshaping the federal government during the second Trump administration. Vought on Wednesday also announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation was freezing $18 million for two infrastructure projects in New York City “to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] principles.” The projects include a train tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey and a subway line running along Second Avenue in New York City.

His posts came on the first day of the U.S. government shutdown.

The recipients of the canceled awards will have 30 days to appeal the termination decisions, according to the DOE, which said some of the projects included in the announcement have already begun that process.

Californians were mailed inaccurate voter guides about the November special election asking them whether to redraw congressional district boundaries, according to the secretary of state’s office. The state agency announced that it would mail postcards correcting the information to voters, which is likely to cost millions of dollars.

“Accuracy in voter information is essential to maintaining public trust in California’s elections,” said Secretary of State Shirley Weber. “We are taking swift, transparent action to ensure voters receive correct information. This mislabeling does not affect proposed districts, ballots, or the election process; it is solely a labeling error. Every eligible Californian can have full confidence that their vote will be counted and their representation is secure.”

The voter guide was sent to California registered voters about Proposition 50, a ballot measure championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state Democrats to try to boost the number of Democrats in Congress. The proposal was in response to Texas and other GOP-led states trying to increase the number of Republicans in the House at the behest of President Trump to enable him to continue to enact his agenda during his final two years in office.

The special election will take place on Nov. 4, but voters will begin receiving mail ballots in early October.

On page 11 of the voter guide, a proposed and hotly contested congressional district that includes swaths of the San Fernando and Antelope valleys and is currently represented by Rep. George Whitesides (D-Agua Dulce) was mislabeled as Congressional District 22. However, on more detailed maps in the voter guide, the district is properly labeled as District 27.

“It is unfortunate that it was incorrect on the statewide map in the voter guide,” said Paul Mitchell, the Democratic redistricting expert who drew the new proposed congressional districts. “But the important thing is it is correct in the L.A. County and the Southern California maps,” allowing people who live in the region to accurately see their new proposed congressional district.

There are 23 million registered voters in California, but it’s unclear whether the postcards will be mailed to each registered voter or to households of registered voters. The secretary of state’s office did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.

Even if the corrective notices are mailed to voter households rather than individual voters, the postage alone is likely to be millions of dollars, in addition to the cost of printing the postcards. The special election, which the Legislature called for in August, was already expected to cost taxpayers $284 million.

Opponents of Proposition 50 seized upon the error as proof that the measure was hastily placed on the ballot.

“When politicians force the Secretary of State to rush an election, mistakes are bound to happen,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for one of the campaigns opposing the effort. “It’s unfortunate that this one will cost taxpayers millions of dollars.”

Former state GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson, who leads another anti-Proposition 50 campaign supported by congressional Republicans, added that such mistakes were inevitable given how quickly the ballot measure was written and the special election was called.

“The Prop. 50 power grab was rushed through so fast by greedy politicians that glaring mistakes were made, raising serious questions about what else was missed,” she said. “California taxpayers are already on the hook for a nearly $300 million special election, and now they’re paying to fix mistakes too. Californians deserve transparency, not backroom politics. Secretary Weber should release the cost of issuing this correction immediately.”

The campaign supporting the ballot measure did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. market is huge, with a combined market cap of around $63 trillion. There are all sorts of different ways you can slice and dice the U.S. stock market, with the top ETFs offering plenty of variety. But if you are a dividend lover, you are only interested in about half of the total universe, which cuts your investable universe down to “just” $30 trillion or so.

If that’s still a little daunting (it should be), then you need to get to know Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD -0.39%). Here’s why it could be the top dividend exchange-traded fund (ETF) for you to buy.

Image source: Getty Images.

What does Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF do?

Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index. Although the exchange-traded fund technically doesn’t do anything other than mimic the index, the index and the ETF are, in practice, doing the same things and can be discussed interchangeably. From here on out, the ETF will be discussed and not the index.

The first step in creating Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF’s portfolio is to winnow down the $30 trillion worth of dividend stocks to a more manageable number. To do this, only stocks that have increased their dividends for at least 10 years are examined for further consideration. Also eliminated are real estate investment trusts (REITs), because of their unique corporate structure that emphasizes dividends and avoids corporate-level taxation.

Once a core investable universe is created, Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF builds a composite score for each of the remaining companies. The score includes cash flow to total debt, return on equity, dividend yield, and a company’s five-year dividend growth rate. Essentially, the ETF is trying to find financially strong companies that are well run and that return material value to shareholders via regular, and growing, dividend payments. The 100 companies with the best composite scores are included in the ETF.

The ETF uses a market cap weighting approach, so the largest companies have the biggest impact on performance. And the list of holdings is updated annually. That’s a lot of work, but the expense ratio is a very modest 0.06%. At the end of the day, Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF is doing what most dividend investors would do if they bought stocks on their own at a cost that is very close to free by Wall Street standards.

Why you should buy Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF

Some caveats are important here. You can easily find higher-yielding ETFs. You can easily find ETFs that have had better price appreciation. Simply put, Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF isn’t a perfect investment choice for every investor. But it provides a very good balance between yield, price appreciation, and dividend growth over time.

SCHD data by YCharts

As the chart above highlights, the dividend and the ETF’s market price have both trended generally higher since its inception in October 2011. Now add in the well-above-market dividend yield of around 3.7% today, and the story gets even better. For reference, that’s just over three times greater than what you’d collect from an S&P 500 index (^GSPC 0.26%) tracking ETF like Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO).

And since Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF’s portfolio is regularly updated, you don’t need to think about what’s in the portfolio. How it invests is more important than what it owns at any given moment. Its holdings will naturally shift along with the market over time. In other words, you just have to make one buy decision and let the ETF do the rest of the work for you.

A simple “one and done” ETF for dividend investors

There are a lot of public companies in the United States. And around half of those public companies pay dividends. Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF lets you cut through the $30 trillion worth of dividend noise to focus on just 100 of the best dividend stocks. And it basically picks dividend stocks the way a dividend investor would do it, looking for quality companies with growing businesses, attractive yields, and growing dividends. If you love dividends, Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF could easily be the top ETF for you.

Published on
02/09/2025 – 13:52 GMT+2

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Gold jumped to a record $3,508.50 (€3,015.08) an ounce on Tuesday, fuelled by expectations of a US Federal Reserve rate cut and mounting uncertainty for investors.

The precious metal is seen as a haven for investors, with demand for it surging when trust in the stability of paper currencies or financial markets dips.

Earlier this year, gold prices surged when US President Donald Trump announced a raft of controversial tariffs against other countries.

Gold’s record-high value underscores deep unease over the global outlook and questions about the Fed’s independence as US President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on policymakers.

Dollar is no longer the ‘gold standard’

The rise in gold prices has come as part of a multiyear rally for precious metals.

Central banks from Asia to the Middle East have been accelerating their purchases for the fourth year in a row, adding a powerful tailwind to prices, with predictions being that at least 1,000 metric tonnes of gold will be purchased by governments for their gold reserves.

The move reveals a decreasing reliance on the US dollar at a time when Washington’s fiscal trajectory and political battles are clouding its standing as the world’s reserve currency.

A survey of 73 central banks conducted by the World Gold Council revealed that 95% of them are expected to increase their gold holdings over the next 12 months, while nearly three-quarters of them are anticipated to shrink their dollar reserves.

China, who is still locked in negotiations with the US over a more favourable trade deal, has been accumulating gold on a monthly basis, recording its ninth straight month of purchases in July.

De-dollarisation will hurt the world’s most reliable currency

For much of modern history, most national currencies were tied directly to gold — namely, governments guaranteed that paper money could be exchanged for a fixed weight of gold they had stored in their reserves.

Everyday transactions were carried out with paper money because it was far simpler than calculating gold values or carrying bullion, while governments backed those notes with gold held securely in their vaults.

After World War II, dozens of Allied nations gathered in Bretton Woods in New Hampshire to host the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference.

They decided to create the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and established a system where the US dollar was pegged to gold at $35 an ounce.

In other words, one dollar represented 1/35th of an ounce. At the time, this peg gave the dollar unmatched credibility because the US then held most of the world’s gold reserves.

It provided stability for global trade and investment for about 27 years, until the US abandoned the gold peg in 1971, collapsing the Bretton Woods system.

Ghosts of Bretton Woods

Bretton Woods collapsed in 1971 when the US deficit and inflation drained gold reserves, making the $35 peg unsustainable.

President Richard Nixon ended dollar convertibility at the time, forcing currencies to float freely.

Once currencies began floating after Bretton Woods, foreign exchange or Forex markets became the arena where their values were set.

Instead of governments guaranteeing fixed rates, traders, banks and central banks now buy and sell currencies against one another, with prices at times shifting by the second.

Now, US policies are once again influencing the gold-buying habits of central banks, and it is particularly symbolic that gold has surged past $3,500 an ounce — an increase of more than 10,000% from the $35 peg set under Bretton Woods after World War II.

Shares of Dollar General (DG -2.64%) are up around 45% so far in 2025. But they are also down more than 55% from their 2022 peak. The retailer’s strong second-quarter-2025 earnings update shows that the turnaround is still going strong. Here’s why I’m excited about Dollar General stock after reading its most recent earnings update.

What does Dollar General do?

Dollar General, as its name implies, is a dollar store. The term is a bit misleading, however. It sells a variety of products, from everyday necessities to clothing and seasonal items, at low prices. For example, it may sell a name brand consumer staples product, like toilet paper, just like another store, but the size of the product might be smaller. Buying a single roll is simply cheaper than buying 20 in a multipack from a club store, even if the per-roll cost from the club store is ultimately a better deal.

Image source: Getty Images.

Dollar General leans into its role of serving less affluent customers with its choice of store locations. The retailer purposely operates relatively small stores in mostly rural areas that are underserved by larger competitors. This makes it more convenient for a customer to stop by a Dollar General store than to drive to a big-box store, even though it might be cheaper to buy from the big box store.

Although Dollar General’s stores are kind of small, the company is actually quite large. It operates over 20,700 Dollar General, DG Market, DGX and pOpshelf stores across the United States (it also operates Mi Súper Dollar General stores in Mexico). It expects to complete over 4,800 real estate projects in fiscal year 2025. That list includes capital investments like renovating older stores but also the addition of as many as 575 new stores in the United States and 15 in Mexico.

DG data by YCharts

Dollar General is turning things around

Although the stock has risen dramatically in 2025, that has erased only a small portion of the decline since late 2022. And that’s the opportunity for long-term investors. But the really big news from the second-quarter earnings update was the company’s financial and operational performance. A look at some income statement highlights tells a very exciting story.

Specifically, sales increased 5.1% year over year, hitting $10.7 billion. However, the real star was same-store sales, which measures the performance of existing locations. That metric rose 2.8%, driven by rising traffic (1.5 percentage points of that total) and an increase in the amount spent by customers on each visit (1.2 percentage points). To put that in plain English, more customers are showing up, and they are spending more.

Earnings for the quarter came in at $1.86, up 9% over the same quarter in 2024. And, notably, earnings came in well above Wall Street analyst expectations, beating consensus by roughly 18%. A big help to the bottom line was the company’s ability to increase its gross margin by 137 basis points year over year, led by less shrinkage, higher inventory markups, and less inventory damage.

This is all very good news and shows that the company’s turnaround effort is working. But the best part of the story is that management updated its full-year 2025 guidance, suggesting that the turnaround is set to continue. Previously, sales were projected to rise between 3.7% and 4.7%. Now they are expected to jump 4.3% to 4.8%. Same-store sales were updated similarly, with a slight increase on the top end and a material change at the low end of the guidance range. Basically, the worst-case scenario that management envisioned appears to be off the table.

There could be more upside from here

My excitement is tempered by the fact that Dollar General’s stock price has risen a great deal in a very short time. Wall Street appears to be aware of the positive reversal in the business dynamics. But that doesn’t change the fact that the stock remains well off its highs, hinting that there could be more room for recovery ahead. Perhaps it won’t happen as quickly as the initial turnaround, but if you think in decades and not days, Dollar General and its still-historically-high 2.1% dividend yield could be a good stock for a deep dive today.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Date

Aug. 28, 2025, at 9 a.m. ET

Call participants

• Chief Executive Officer — Todd Vasos
• Chief Financial Officer — Kelly Dilts

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Takeaways

• Net sales— $10.7 billion in net sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 (period ended Aug. 2, 2025), representing a 5.1% year-over-year increase.
• Same-store sales— Same-store sales increased 2.8% in Q2, with customer traffic up 1.5% and average basket size up 1.2%.
• Gross profit margin— Gross profit was 31.3% of sales in Q2 (up 137 basis points year over year), primarily driven by a 108 basis point improvement in shrink.
• SG&A as % of sales— 25.8% (up 121 basis points), mainly due to higher incentive compensation, repairs and maintenance, and benefits costs.
• Operating profit— Operating profit was $595 million (an increase of 8.3% year over year); margin rose 16 basis points to 5.6%.
• Net interest expense— Net interest expense was $57.7 million, down from $68.1 million in the prior year period.
• EPS— Diluted EPS (GAAP) was $1.86 per share in Q2, up 9.4% year over year and above the company’s internal expectations.
• Inventory— Merchandise inventories totaled $6.6 billion at the end of Q2, down $391 million (5.6%) overall and 7.4% per store.
• Cash flows from operations— $1.8 billion during the first half of the year, an increase of 9.8% compared to the prior year.
• Dividends— $0.59 per common share in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, with a total payout of approximately $130 million.
• Fiscal 2025 guidance— Net sales growth of 4.3%-4.8% expected for fiscal 2025, same-store sales growth of 2.1%-2.6% for the year, and diluted EPS (GAAP) of $5.08-$6.30.
• Capital expenditures— Planned $1.3 billion-$1.4 billion, including approximately 4,885 real estate projects, 575 new U.S. store openings, and up to 15 in Mexico.
• Store remodel activity— 729 Project Elevate remodels and 592 Project Renovate remodels completed in the second quarter of fiscal 2025.
• Delivery partnership expansion— DoorDash is available for 17,000 Dollar General stores, and Uber Eats works with 4,000 stores, with expectations to soon reach 14,000 stores.
• DG Delivery expansion– Management now expects to offer DG delivery for more than 16,000 stores by year’s end, compared to previous expectations of approximately 10,000 stores.
• DG Media Network— Retail media volume grew significantly year over year in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, supporting personalized customer engagement and partner ad spend.
• Non-consumable comps— Each major non-consumable category posted at least 2.5% same-store sales growth.

Summary

Dollar General(DG -2.10%) delivered sales and earnings growth above internal expectations in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, citing balanced performance across both consumable and non-consumable categories. Management committed to keeping more than 2,000 SKUs at a $1 or less price point, and highlighted that its $1 Value Valley assortment achieved same-store sales growth at more than double the total company rate in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. The company emphasized broad-based market share gains, expansion of delivery coverage to urban and rural stores, and successful shrink and inventory management as key drivers of financial improvement. Fiscal 2025 guidance was raised, and the company will redeem $600 million of senior notes early in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, using cash on hand, signaling a focus on improving balance sheet metrics.

• Todd Vasos noted, “To that end, we’re pleased to see growth with customers across all income brackets in [the second quarter of fiscal 2025]. This includes our core customer, who increased spending despite worsening sentiment. In addition, we continue to see trade-in growth with middle- and higher-income customers, which we believe is contributing to the strong performance in our non-consumable categories.”
• The company maintained that its price gaps remain within three to four percentage points of average mass retailers, underlining Dollar General’s positioning on everyday value.
• Dollar General’s initiatives in store remodels (Project Elevate and Renovate) are contributing to first-year annualized comp sales lifts in the range of 3%-8% for completed locations, based on the second quarter of fiscal 2025 results, with early customer satisfaction data described as significantly improved post-remodel, according to management commentary in the second quarter of fiscal 2025.
• DG Media Network is delivering incremental returns for partners seeking rural and lower-income customer reach, supported by proprietary customer data assets.

Industry glossary

• Project Elevate: Incremental remodel initiative targeting mature stores, focusing on merchandising optimization and physical investments to achieve 3%-5% first-year annualized comp sales lifts.
• Project Renovate: Traditional full remodel program targeting older stores, designed to deliver 6%-8% first-year annualized comp sales increases.
• DG Media Network: Dollar General’s retail media platform providing partners with retail ad space, audience data, and multichannel marketing access to Dollar General’s unique customer base.
• SKU: “Stock Keeping Unit”; a unique identifier for each distinct product carried for sales and inventory management.
• Value Valley: Merchandising set within Dollar General featuring rotating SKUs at the $1 price point, aimed at price-conscious customers.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Todd Vasos, our CEO, and Kelly Dilts, our CFO. Our earnings release issued today can be found on our website at investor.dollargeneral.com under News and Events. Let me caution you that today’s comments include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements about our financial guidance, long-term financial framework, strategy, initiatives, plans, goals, priorities, opportunities, expectations, or beliefs about future matters and other statements that are not limited to historical fact. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections.

These factors include, but are not limited to, those identified in our earnings release issued this morning under Risk Factors in our 2024 Form 10-K filed on March 21, 2025, and any later filed periodic report. In the comments that are made on this call, you should not unduly rely on forward-looking statements which speak only as of today’s date. Dollar General disclaims any obligation to update or revise any information discussed in this call unless required by law. At the end of our prepared remarks, we will open the call up for your questions. To allow us to address as many questions as possible in the queue, please limit yourself to one question.

Now it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Todd.

Todd Vasos: Thank you, Kevin, and welcome to everyone joining our call. I want to begin by thanking our team for their great work to fulfill our mission of serving others every day in our stores, distribution centers, private fleet, and store support center. These efforts are resonating with our customers as well as driving strong operating and financial performance. To that end, we are pleased to deliver strong second-quarter results highlighted by earnings growth that significantly exceeded our internal expectations. For today’s call, I’ll begin by recapping some of the highlights of our second-quarter performance as well as sharing our latest observations on the consumer environment.

After that, Kelly will share the details of our financial performance as well as our updated financial outlook for fiscal 2025. I will then wrap up the call with an update on some of our key growth-driving initiatives. Turning to our second-quarter performance, net sales increased 5.1% to $10.7 billion in Q2, compared to net sales of $10.2 billion in last year’s second quarter. This growth was driven by strong performance from new stores and our mature store base. We grew market share in both dollars and units highly consumable product sales once again during the quarter.

In addition to growing market share in non-consumable product sales, same-store sales increased 2.8% during the quarter driven by relatively balanced growth of 1.5% in customer traffic and 1.2% in average basket. The basket growth was driven by an increase in both average unit retail price per item and average items per basket. We were excited to see a second consecutive quarter of broad-based category growth with positive comp sales in each of our consumables, seasonal, home, and apparel categories. From a monthly cadence perspective, we saw same-store sales growth above 2% in all three periods, with our strongest comps in June and July.

We believe these strong and balanced top-line results are a reflection of the hard work the team has done to improve execution and further enhance the value and convenience proposition for both existing and new customers. To that end, we’re pleased to see growth with customers across all income brackets during the quarter. This includes our core customer, who increased spending despite worsening sentiment. In addition, we continue to see trade-in growth with middle and higher-income customers during the quarter, which we believe is contributing to the nice performance we’ve seen in our non-consumable categories. Ultimately, customers across all income brackets are coming to Dollar General as they seek value.

As America’s neighborhood general store in more than 20,000 locations across the country, we recognize and embrace our role in being here for what matters for our customers. This includes providing the items they want and need at prices they can afford. With that in mind, we are committed to delivering everyday low prices that are within three to four percentage points on average of mass retailers. While we are pleased that we continue to operate within the targeted price range, we are also focused on maintaining our substantial offering of more than 2,000 SKUs at or below the $1 price point.

We know this price point is important in helping our core customers stretch their dollar particularly at the end of the month and when budgets are tight. In fact, our $1 Value Valley merchandising set which is comprised of more than 500 rotating SKUs was one of our strongest performing areas in the quarter with same-store sales growth more than twice the rate of the overall company. We believe this holistic approach to offering value will continue to be important for our customers, particularly in the back half of this year. Now I’d like to provide a brief update on how we’re thinking about tariffs.

With the rates currently in place, we believe we will be able to mitigate the majority of the impact on our cost of goods. The proactive approach of our sourcing team coupled with our relatively low direct import exposure has positioned us well to serve our customers with a quality assortment at tremendous value. While the landscape remains dynamic, tariffs have begun to result in some price increases and we will continue to work to minimize them as much as possible. Most importantly, we know this further amplifies the need for value with our communities. And we remain committed to serving our customers with the everyday low prices they have come to know and appreciate from Dollar General.

Overall, we’re proud of our performance during the quarter and the tremendous progress we’ve made throughout the first half of the year. Our actions are delivering an enhanced shopping experience for our customers and driving strong operating and financial results. We are further strengthening our value and convenient proposition for our customers, while making significant progress on our long-term financial goals. Before I turn the call over for our financial update, I want to thank Kelly for her partnership. As well as her leadership of our financial organization over the last few years. We wish her the very best as she prepares and begins her new chapter.

I also want to note that we’re excited to welcome Donnie Lau back to Dollar General as our next CFO beginning in October. He is highly regarded throughout the organization for his deep understanding of the business, thoughtful strategic leadership, and appreciation for our culture and values. We look forward to his leadership of our financial organization as we seek to drive excellence and create long-term shareholder value. With that, I’d now like to turn the call over to Kelly.

Kelly Dilts: Thank you, Todd, and good morning, everyone. First, on a personal note, I wanted to express my appreciation to this team, our customers, and our shareholders. This is a special organization with a unique mission and I’m grateful for the time I’ve had to serve alongside them. Now that Todd has taken you through a few of the top-line highlights of the quarter, let me take you through some of the other important financial details. Unless we specifically note otherwise, all comparisons are year-over-year, all references to EPS refer to diluted earnings per share and all years noted refer to the corresponding fiscal year.

For Q2, gross profit as a percentage of sales was 31.3%, an increase of 137 basis points. This increase was primarily attributable to lower shrink higher inventory markups and lower inventory damages. Our focus on reducing shrink has continued to produce positive results. Including a healthy year-over-year improvement of 108 basis points in the second quarter. We’re excited to be outperforming the shrink reduction expectations contemplated within our long-term financial growth framework. In terms of both timing and magnitude. Given these results, we are optimistic about the potential for shrink reduction to contribute more than 80 basis points toward the operating margin goal of 6% to 7% contemplated within our long-term financial framework.

In addition, we were pleased to drive a reduction in damages in the second quarter as our efforts in this area have begun to take hold as well. The gross margin increase was partially offset by increased LIFO provision as well as increased markdowns and increased distribution cost. Now, let’s turn to SG and A. Which as a percentage of sales was 25.8%. An increase of 121 basis points. The primary expenses that were a higher percentage of net sales in the quarter were incentive compensation, repairs and maintenance, and benefits. Moving down the income statement, operating profit for the second quarter 8.3% to $595 million. As a percentage of sales, operating profit increased 16 basis points to 5.6%.

Net interest expense for the quarter decreased to $57.7 million compared to $68.1 million in last year’s second quarter. Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 23.5%, and compares to 22.3% in the second quarter last year. Finally, EPS for the quarter increased 9.4% to $1.86 which exceeded the high end of our internal expectations. Turning now to our balance sheet and cash flow, where we continue to make great strengthening our financial position. Merchandise inventories were $6.6 billion at the end of Q2, a decrease of $391 million or 5.6% compared to prior year. And a decrease of 7.4% on an average per store basis.

The team continues to do a tremendous job reducing inventory while increasing sales and improving in-stock levels which is having positive operational impact in both stores and distribution centers. The business generated cash flows from operations of $1.8 billion during the first half of the year an increase of 9.8% compared to the prior year. Our strong top and bottom line results along with our focused inventory management efforts continue to generate significant cash flow. During the quarter, we returned cash to shareholders through a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per common share outstanding for a total payment of approximately $130 million. Our capital allocation priorities continue to serve us well and remain unchanged.

Our first priority is investing in our business including our existing store base as well as high return growth opportunities. Such as new store expansions, remodels, and other strategic initiatives. Next, we seek to return cash to shareholders through a quarterly dividend payment and over time and when appropriate, share repurchases. And while our leverage ratio remains above our goal, which is below three times adjusted debt to adjusted EBITDAR, we are making great progress towards reaching our target level. Importantly, we remain focused on improving our debt metrics in support of our commitment to middle BBB ratings by S&P and Moody’s. Overall, we’re very pleased with our operating performance and financial results.

Our strong performance has positioned us to raise our financial outlook for 2025. This update primarily reflects our outperformance in the second quarter and improved outlook for the second half of the year. While considering the potential uncertainty, particularly on consumer behavior as we move through 2025. With that in mind, we now expect the following for 2025. Net sales growth of approximately 4.3% to 4.8% same-store sales growth of approximately 2.1% to 2.6% and EPS in the range of $5.08 to $6.30. Our EPS guidance continues to assume an effective tax rate of approximately 23.5% and that we will not repurchase shares under our share repurchase program. Now I want to provide some additional context around our expectations.

While we’re not providing specific quarterly guidance, the low end of our sales and earnings guidance ranges allow for increasing pressure on consumer spending as we move through the back half of the year with Q4 potentially more than Q3. In addition, we expect shrink to be a continued tailwind throughout the remainder of the year, though to a lesser extent in Q4 as we begin to lap the improvements we made toward the end of last year. Turning to SG and A, given our strong performance we now anticipate incentive compensation expense to be a headwind of approximately $200 million.

Moving to the final portions of our guidance for 2025, we continue to expect capital spending in the range of $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion designed to support our ongoing growth. This includes our continued expectations to execute approximately 4,885 real estate projects in 2025 including 575 new store openings in The United States and up to 15 in Mexico. 2,000 project renovate remodels 2,250 project elevate remodels, and 45 relocations. Finally, as a result of our strong cash position, we are using cash on hand to redeem $600 million of our senior notes in the third quarter, earlier than their April 2027 maturity.

In summary, we’re pleased with our Q2 results, and we’re proud of the work that the team has done to strengthen our operating and financial position. This business model is strong and we believe Dollar General is well positioned to drive sustainable long-term growth on both the top and bottom lines while creating long-term shareholder value. With that, I’ll turn the call back over to Todd.

Todd Vasos: Thank you, Kelly. I’ll take the next few minutes to provide updates on three of the most important initiatives across the business. As we look to further advance our progress toward achieving our short and long-term goals. I’ll start with our real estate work. As we continue to focus on driving sales and market share growth by expanding our unique real estate footprint while also enhancing our mature store base. We opened 204 new stores in Q2, primarily using our 8,500 square foot format in rural markets. Dollar General continues to serve as a vital partner, bringing value and convenience to communities across the country through new store growth.

In addition to our US growth, we opened four new stores in Mexico during the quarter, bringing us to a total of 13. Our team is doing a wonderful job serving those communities as we continue to test and learn and further develop that potential growth opportunity. We are also pleased with the progress of our remodel projects, As a reminder, in addition to our traditional remodel program, which we call Project Renovate, we have introduced a new incremental remodel program called project elevate in 2025. This initiative is designed to drive sales and market share growth in portions of our mature store base that are not yet old enough to be part of a full remodel pipeline.

These projects include physical asset investments as well as merchandising optimization, product adjacency adjustments, and category refreshes, all of which impacts approximately 80% of the total store. We completed 729 project elevate remodels in Q2 and an additional 592 project renovate remodels during the quarter. While still early, we expect to reach our goal of delivering first-year annualized comp sales lifts in the range of 6% to 8% for project renovate stores and three to 5% for project elevate stores. Importantly, we’ve seen significant improvements in customer satisfaction in these locations upon completion of the remodels.

And we believe the improved performance and customer response in these stores paves the way to make Project Elevate a key component of our real estate strategy in the years ahead. The next area I want to discuss is our digital initiative. Which serves as an important complement to our expansive store footprint as we continue to deploy and leverage technology to further enhance convenience and access for our customers. Our digital capabilities include an engaging mobile app and website that continues to be very popular with our customers as well as growing our delivery options and DG media net. We continue to expand the reach of our delivery options with solutions targeted both new and existing customers.

Our DoorDash partnership, now serves more than 17,000 stores, continues to drive significant incrementality and sales growth. To that end, our Q2 sales through this platform increased by more than 60% year over year. Building on this success, we partnered with DoorDash to launch our own same-day delivery offering through our DG digital solutions late in 2024. We have now expanded this offering to nearly 6,000 stores. We are also excited to note that we now expect to offer DG delivery for more than 16,000 stores by year’s end. Compared to our previous expectation of approximately 10,000 stores.

And most recently, we entered a partnership with Uber Eats to further expand the reach of our delivery capabilities as we provide value and convenience to customers on their platform. We have already expanded to approximately 4,000 stores with Uber and expect to be in approximately 14,000 stores by the ‘3. Collectively, more than 75% of the orders through these offerings are delivered in one hour or less. Ultimately, we believe this suite of delivery options will introduce new customers to Dollar General and drive incremental sales growth while also further enhancing the value and convenient proposition for our existing customer base.

The linchpin of our digital initiative is our DG media network, which enables a more personalized experience for a unique customer base while delivering a higher return on ad spend for our partners. We continue to be pleased with the performance of DG Media Network. Which is driving significant year-over-year growth in retail media volume as partners seek to access our unique customer base.

This initiative is an important component of our strategy to deliver on our long-term growth framework and we are excited about its Over time, we believe we can leverage our digital initiative to increase market share and drive profitable sales growth while further evolving our relationship with our customers and driving greater customer loyalty within the digital platform. The final initiative I want to discuss is our non-consumables growth strategy. As a reminder, we are focused on a few key growth drivers in our non-consumable categories over the next three years. These include brand partnerships, a revamped treasure hunt experience, and reallocation of space within our home category.

During Q2, we were pleased to deliver positive quarterly same-store sales growth in each of the three non-consumable categories for the second consecutive quarter. Notably, the magnitude of growth was broad-based with same-store sales increases in each of these categories of at least two and a half percent. Our brand partnerships are resonating with customers, and we have been pleased with the strong sell-through in many of these sets. As a result of the success, as well as our improved execution, our home products category saw its largest quarterly same-store sales increase in more than four years. In addition, our pop shelf stores delivered another quarter of strong same-store sales growth.

We continue to be pleased with the performance of the new store layout in this banner including a greater emphasis on categories such as toys, party, candy, and beauty. The pop shelf banner also continues to produce learnings that we are able to apply to our non-consumable categories in our Dollar General stores to further strengthen that offering for our DG customers. We believe our non-consumable sales performance both in Dollar General and Popshelf stores also benefited from improved execution in our stores and supply chain. As well as from the expanded trade in shopping we’ve seen from middle and higher-income customers.

These results, strong sales performance and market share gains continue to demonstrate that our treasure hunt approach is resonating with the customer. In turn, we believe we are well-positioned to serve them in these discretionary categories in stores across both banners and ultimately drive further growth in both sales and gross margin. In closing, we’re pleased with our second-quarter performance. Operationally, we are improving execution stabilizing our workforce through lower turnover rates, advancing our key initiatives, and enhancing our position for sustainable long-term growth. Financially, we’re delivering balanced sales growth significant margin improvement, and strong earnings, while also strengthening our balance sheet and operating cash flow.

With that said, we have ample opportunity in front of us to drive growth and further improve our operating and financial performance. And this team is laser-focused on delivering on these goals. As an essential partner in communities across the country, our customers rely on Dollar General in all economic environments. Delivering on our mission of serving others continues to guide everything we do, and we are excited about our plans for the back 2025 and beyond. Lastly, I want to thank our more than 195,000 employees for their commitment and dedication. And I’m looking forward to all we can accomplish together in the second half of the year.

With that operator, we would now like to open the lines for questions.

Operator: Thank you. At this time, we’ll be conducting a question and answer session. If you like to ask a question, please press star 1 from your telephone keypad, a confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. May press star 2 if you’d like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up the handset before pressing the star keys. We may address questions for as many participants as possible, ask you to please limit yourself to one question. One moment please for our first question. And the first question is from the line of Michael Lasser with UBS. Please proceed with your question.

Michael Lasser: Good morning. Thank you so much for taking my question. Given that you are optimistic that shrink could contribute more than 80 basis points to your long-term financial framework. Does that mean that you expect to be able to realize the six to 7% operating margin maybe as soon as next year, or, alternatively, your long-term range should be recalibrated above 7%, or are you seeing anything in the environment that might suggest you’ll have to take some of this upside and shrink and other factors and reinvest it back in the business in order to drive the top line. Thank you so much.

Kelly Dilts: Yeah. Thank you, Michael. Great question. So we are definitely optimistic that we could potentially outperform on shrink and get a little bit more than 80 basis points over the mid to longer term. But we’re still targeting that long-term framework of 6% to 7% on the operating margin. This quarter just solidifies the fact that we feel good about where we are. Shrink is a big component of that and we’ve got a lot of strategies and initiatives in place to achieving that long-term framework. I think what’s important for us is not only getting to that 6% to 7%, but also the sustainability of that operating margin as we go forward.

Operator: The next question is from the line of Simeon Gutman with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your question.

Simeon Gutman: Hey. Good morning, everyone. And, Kelly, good working with you, and then eventually, congratulations to Donnie. I’m gonna ask you a two-part you’re welcome. Two-part question. So first, if you take the gross margin in the second quarter, and we hold that base, it does look like it steps down in Q3, but is there any reason why it should step down more than expected seasonally? Meaning, is there anything temporal about the gross margin that’s not a good proxy? And then second, Todd, from when you came back in 2023, thinking about all the execution items, can you talk about what’s left and what you’ve gotten done? Thanks.

Kelly Dilts: Yes. So I’ll answer the gross margin question first. What we’re seeing now is obviously just an outperformance on shrink. So 108 basis points this quarter of the 137 basis points improvement. As we think about cadence for the back half, we’re certainly expecting a year-over-year improvement in both of the quarters. But what I would tell you is we actually have tougher laps in Q4 on the gross margin front. And so we would expect maybe a little bit less on Q4 as far as improvement over year-over-year. And then you didn’t ask about SG and A, but I do want to call out just one thing on the SG and A front.

We would expect more pressure in SG and A in the third quarter, and that’s really around repairs and maintenance. It’s kind of the season for repairs and maintenance we get into hurricane season and we’re still kind of in that warm weather. But what’s the big contributor there is we’re also wrapping up our project Elevate and Renovate. Projects mostly in the third quarter, and so that puts a little bit of pressure on Q3.

Todd Vasos: Yes. And Simeon, I am very, very pleased with where we are, with our back-to-basics work. I would tell you that the team has done a really good job from, back of house. So our supply chain, our merchants, to front of house, if you will, and that’s in our stores and the execution. It really is paying off. You can see it in our top line. Not only a strong 2.8% comparable sales number that we posted, but as you look at that sales number, it’s very balanced. Consumables and non-consumables contributed very nicely to that 2.8%. I would tell you that we are retailers.

We always have work to do as it relates to a lot of what we’ve been working on. But, again, if I was to step back and think about it and base terms and innings, I would say we’re in the very late innings of this game. And then we’re really into now sustainability. Of what we have worked on. And I would tell you, feel real good about that as well. From a couple standpoints. Number one, we have done a really nice job in our turnover rates have come down. We’ve had some consecutive quarters of those decreases and we continue to be happy with where we’re at.

I would tell you that our pipeline for folks coming into the organization is as robust as ever. And I’m very happy to say that our store manager turnover rates are down again this quarter. So a lot of what we’ve been working on to make life easier at the store level is starting to really resonate not only with the customer, but our employee base, which is really important.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer. Please proceed with your question.

Rupesh Parikh: Good morning, and thanks for taking my question. And also, Kelly, best of luck. So I’m gonna focus my comments just on delivery. So as you look at the DoorDash and I guess Uber is still very early, but just any surprises or key learnings to date? And then, you know, as you’ve added Uber, like, how do you think about the incrementality of that offering? Thank you.

Todd Vasos: Yeah. Rupesh, thank you. Yeah. I can tell you, our digital solutions in general, just totality, we’re very happy with where we are. Very early innings. Again, baseball analogy for you. Very early innings on our digital journey. But as you know, and you’ve pointed out, DoorDash has been really the start of our digital journey, if you will, from a delivery perspective. We’re up to 17,000 locations which is great to see. And I would tell you that we saw a 60% year-over-year increase on that platform. And by the way, off of a pretty robust number to start with. So very happy with what we’re seeing there.

But the team isn’t slowing down here because again, we’re in the early innings. Saw where we just signed a deal with Uber Eats. We are happy with what we are seeing very early there in the partnership. 4,000 stores up and running. And by the end of the third quarter, we’ll have 14 stores is what our goal to have up and running on that platform. And that just expands the reach to our to our consumer. And then last lastly, on our delivery piece, white label program that we stood up Again, very early days, but we’re seeing both incrementality there as well as larger bass baskets.

And these larger baskets and some of them well north of $20 baskets for us would point to incremental ality and would point to more of a fill up versus a fill in. With that notion, you would feel that and we feel that a lot of it is incremental to our base. The great thing about our delivery piece is we are going to have more and more stores up and running. Believe we were great to be able to put out there 16,000 by year end now. Which is an acceleration from where we were. And I think that’s a real testament to what we’ve already seen so far.

You know, to use my terminology, we’re gonna put the pedal to the metal here. Because we see some real opportunity ahead. And I would tell you again the platform across all the digital properties The linchpin of this is our digital media network. And again, it has shown strong results this quarter. And continues to show strong results. So stay tuned there because I believe there’s going to be even more incrementality that comes from that media network. We have a very unique customer base, as you know, being that 80% of our stores are in small town rural America.

And it is hard for CPG companies and other companies to get ahold of clientele that is just in those areas and we have all that data. And so that data will be used in our media network. And I would tell you that our partners already very interested in that. And then lastly, our secret sauce here, if you will, is that so far to date, we have seen that 75% plus of our deliveries are in one hour or less. And I would tell you that is the fastest that we’ve seen out there across the spectrum so far. Rural America where it is hard to reach many, many customers.

So, we believe that’s a competitive advantage for us. And will continue to be as we move forward.

Operator: Our new question is from the line of Matthew Boss with JPMorgan. Please proceed with your question.

Matthew Boss: Thanks and congrats on a nice quarter. So Todd, on your forecast for increasing pressure, on the low-income consumer as the year progresses, what are you seeing in your survey work today across your income, customer cohorts? And where do you see DG’s value proposition as it stands today relative to opportunities maybe planned to amplify value? And Kelly, on the gross margin, where do you see shrink recovery in terms of innings today? And how best to think about additional drivers of gross margin multiyear from here?

Todd Vasos: Yeah. I’ll start, Kelly, and, send it over to you. You know, right now, Matt, I would tell you that, I would characterize the number one as resilient. And number two, seeking value. And seeking value we’re seeing that in all cohorts of customer, meaning our core customer, mid and high-end customers, all seeking value at this point. We’re seeing in our numbers, our trade-in has been accelerating over the last few quarters. We saw that again And what we’re seeing from the customer You know, coming into and out of Q2. is a good start to Q3. Our back-to-school offering was solid and in good shape.

And I would tell you our harvest and Halloween programs are off to a great start. It really shows and what we see in our data is not only our existing customers, but those new customers coming in. And those new customers coming in have a little extra money in their pocket to spend on that non-consumable categories. And as you heard in my prepared remarks, and I mentioned earlier, we saw a really nice balance in our sales of both consumables and non-consumables. But I would tell you, it’s it’s much deeper than that as well. As they seek value, we have a great proposition for them. Right?

So our everyday low price stance, we have never lost focus on that. We’re as good as ever across all classes of trade on our everyday price, and our customers resonate with that very nicely. We have a great promotional cadence that we use. To continue to stimulate that consumer and especially stimulate these newer consumers as they come in to, to deliver value because they’re not as familiar with that value proposition and what we offer them. So that digital through digital properties, we’re able to reach them. And, so a nice promotional cadence in as well.

Here’s the other value proposition that I think gets lost at times, and that is we still have and will continue to have at least 2,000 items at a dollar or less every day on the shelf. Matter of fact, our Value Valley area, which I know you know, Matt, pretty well, we have over 500 SKUs, and they’re rotating SKUs. At that $1 price point still today. With 2,000 overall inside the store. And I would tell you in Value and across the store, the gross margin on those items are it may exceed the category margins in each one of those items that they play in. So it’s very sustainable for us.

And by the way, when you look across the retail spectrum, it’s a very elusive price point at this point. I would say we’re one of the only ones that have really doubled down here and really pushed that $1 price point. So value to me, and I believe as our consumers look at it, is multi-pronged here at Dollar General and is very sustainable.

Kelly Dilts: On the gross margin side, take it in a couple of pieces. So first on the shrink side, again, we were just really excited to be outperforming the shrink reduction that we contemplated in our long-term framework again and timing and magnitude. Shrink continues to build then the trend and like I talked to earlier, we do anticipate it’s going to continue to be a tailwind. Into 2025 even with the tougher lap in the second half and particularly in Q4. If you don’t mind, I’m just going to list out all the actions that we’re taking because as you know, we’ve got a full team that sits on this shrink problem and they are really producing it results.

The first thing was just the self-checkout conversion and that’s been a big tailwind. But we’re also getting back to our operational excellence with strong in-store control environments and we see that because we continue to see shrink improvement in stores that never had self-checkout. And so that’s great to see. All the inventory reduction and SKU rationalization work is contributing. The improving retail turnover that you heard us talk about is certainly a contributor to this as well as just the expanded shrink incentive programs that we put in place.

We’re still utilizing the high shrink planograms Then as you know, we really worked at this end-to-end process in so that we make sure that we’re mitigating shrink at all points of exposure. I think what all of this combined gets us really excited because there’s as you can remember, it takes a full year for benefits of any actions to truly show up in the P and L. And our workaround shrink never ends, as we add continual actions, we should see some improvement.

So over the mid to long term, we do feel optimistic that we would give it more than the 80 basis points of shrink improvement I think the other piece that we’ve talked about in the long-term framework and that we’re starting to see improve is also around damages. So our goal going into 2025 for damages was flat to slightly favorable. We’re still holding that in the back half but I’ll tell you that Q2 exceeded our expectations and as you saw, it was actually a call out of the good guy in our variance analysis in our earnings release.

So really pleased to see that starting to take hold and just like shrink, we’ve got a team after this A lot of the things that help us on the shrink side also help us on the damage side, which is the inventory reduction, SKU rationalization. We’re also having a full court effort around product rotation, getting more precise in our inventory allocation, which helps us to mitigate future expiration damages. Then just that proactive investment in the repairs and maintenance through our two remodel programs should also help us reduce cooler damages.

So I would tell you between the two overall, we are just feeling really good about the path to improvement, that 80 basis point on shrink, the 40 basis points on damages that we identified in our framework that we rolled out in March. And then just on the initiative side, think you’ve heard Todd talk all about the initiatives that we have in place to drive their 150 basis points around DG media network, all the exciting things that we’re doing with delivery and the non-consumable as well. So we feel good about gross margin as we head into that mid and longer term.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Edward Kelly with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.

Edward Kelly: Hi. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my question. I wanted to follow-up on the gross margin. Obviously, a very strong result this quarter, shrank a big driver. You know, but LIFO was an offset, and it does seem like there’s I don’t know, roughly, like, 80 basis points in here of, you know, a tailwind that I mean, I guess, it seems like a lot of it is initial markup. So can you just talk about, you know, what that is? And then just a quick follow-up. SG and A, you know, there has been some talking about increased higher liability claims.

Just kinda curious, is that something that are seeing, sort of like where you are in the process there, from, an actuarial standpoint in assessment, and if there’s any risk there. Thanks.

Kelly Dilts: Yeah, thank you for the question. So, yeah, on the LIFO, would say, you know, year to date Q2 reflects what we know as regards to current tariff rates as well as it contemplates any cost increases that we’ve gotten from any of our vendors. If you step back and just take a look at the big picture what I would say is of the 137 basis points improvement in gross margin, we got 108 basis points of that in shrink. And then we’re getting 29 basis points tailwind from all of the other areas combined. Solid improvement on the gross margin front.

Todd Vasos: You to address workers’ comp and those people?

Kelly Dilts: Yeah. Thank you, Todd. And then on the general liability front, we are seeing some impact. It’s not material. Generally, we’re seeing the trend towards claims being more expensive as resolve those, but not material impact to us right now. Trends that we are seeing has certainly been contemplated in our guidance.

Operator: Our next question is from the line of Zihan Ma with Bernstein. Please proceed with your question.

Zihan Ma: Great. Thank you so much for taking my question. I wanted to break down the comp sales performance a bit more. In terms of, you mentioned, the trade-in benefit and also, of course, the better store operations driving more traffic. Can you help us better understand what proportion of the comp is driven by more macro-oriented trade-in versus more company-specific? And then going into next year as we start to lap the tougher trading comps, what is going to be sustainable on the top line? Thank you.

Todd Vasos: Yeah. Well, I would think as we look at where we are today, let me address the first part. And then we’ll get to that sustainability piece. We feel good about where we are both from our core consumer as well as the trade-in consumer. And I would tell you that a lot of the work that we did Back to Basics has served us well. And, quite frankly, has set us up nicely for that trade-in consumer. As that trade-in consumer came into the brand, over the last few quarters, they’ve seen a better store both from cleanliness in stock, as well as friendly as well as having somebody at the front end to meet and greet them.

So I would tell you that from all the work that the team has done organically, has produced a nice outcome. On the comp of 2.8%. I would tell you that as I look at the composition, as I mentioned earlier, being pretty balanced between consumables and non-consumables, that The work the team has done on the merchandising side on our non-consumable business has been phenomenal. All these brand partnerships that we’ve been talking about along with great execution at store level, and the flow of freight from our distribution centers has all been very, very good to deliver that outsized comp that we saw in our non-consumable businesses.

We believe as we move to the back half of the year, we’re well positioned. Think about it this way, right now, as we look at the back half of the year, our value proposition is as strong as ever. Matter of fact, we’ve got about $1 SKUs for the seasonal piece for the back half of the year. 25% of the offering is at $1 or less. So even in the face of tariffs, we’ve been able to maintain a $1 price point in our seasonal offering, which should resonate with the consumer. Matter of fact, 70% of the total offering is at $3 or less. So again, the team has done a great job.

What that shows me, and I believe will show in our results with our customer is that value is alive and well at Dollar General. They’re and they are seeing that as they trade into the brand. So I would say it’s really both sides. It was some self-help but also that consumer coming into the brand. But without that self-help, I’m not so sure that she would have stuck with us. That really brings me to the second part of your question. And we do this very well and that is being able to retain that trade-in customer We’ve got a playbook that is very robust and dense. We digitized it a few years back coming out of COVID.

And what I mean by digitize it, we had a great playbook coming out of the great recession, call it that 02/1011 time frame. We digitized it coming out of COVID in 2122. And now we’re pulling that playbook back out. Matter of fact, we’ve already started marketing to these new customers digitally. To, one, continue to keep them engaged and two, hopefully keep them on that Dollar General journey even if time start to get a little better or different for that core consumer. So or I’m sorry for that trade-in consumer. So we’re working on all angles as you would imagine from Dollar General. But comp sales are the lifeblood of this business.

And we’re pushing to deliver a comp at or above where we said we would be.

Operator: The next question is from the line of Chuck Grom with Gordon Haskett. Please proceed with your question.

Chuck Grom: Thanks. Good morning. Real nice work here, Todd. You know, it seems like the only really missing ingredient here is getting the comp back above 3% and being able to do it consistently. I guess, how are you feeling about that opportunity and what are the drivers to get there? And then, Kelly, the gross margin line, a lot of questions there. Can you talk about the interrelationship between shrink and inventory damages and maybe size up the damages opportunity relative to maybe where you were the past couple of years? Thank you.

Todd Vasos: Yeah, Chuck, thanks for the question. In our long-term framework, as you probably recall, we feel very comfortable in that two to 3% to deliver that. Now we are retailers. You know me pretty well. You know this team well. We will strive for more to drive it above those numbers. But I would tell you, we feel very comfortable in two to three range as we go forward. Now in saying that, we’ve got a lot of drivers, not only the self-help that we talked about, not only that great value proposition, that we continue to have for our core consumer as well as these trade-in consumers But what we also have is a plethora of initiatives.

So when you start to think about our project renovate and elevate, stores, those are great comp drivers. Matter of fact, our mature store base really threw off a very nice comp this past quarter. A lot of that driven again on all of the initiatives that we laid out but also as you start to look at what projects elevate and renovate, are doing, they’re they’re they’re starting to produce those comps of six to eight for renovate and starting to produce and working our way to three to five on the on the project elevate stores. So those are all great mature store based comp drivers.

And we’ve got a long runway for that as you would imagine over the next few years. With 20 to almost 21,000 stores now in the portfolio. So we’ve got a great opportunity there. And by the way, the customer response has been overwhelming on these remodels. And as important, so has our associate our employee base has really loved the and because they’re very proud because the customer is loving it. And then lastly, we want to deliver a very balanced portfolio sales. Those non-consumable initiatives continue to be very important.

And I would tell you that, that PopShelf will continue to be important for us as we continue to test learn, and then bring back to the mothership, if you will, Dollar General, those learnings and then deploy those across the chain. We’re doing that as we speak, and I believe that’s been some of the comp driver you’ve also seen on our non-consumable businesses.

Kelly Dilts: And then just as I think about shrink and damages, one thing I’d just like to say is, seeing shrink and damages improve together is a real positive. And so you know, we’ve talked a lot about strengths and maybe I’ll just give you a little bit more color on the damage side. Like I noted just a little bit earlier that we did expect damages to be flat to slightly favorable as we work towards that 40 basis points improvement over our mid to long-term framework. And we believe we’re well on our way to that with Q2 exceeding our expectations there.

And so as you as you’re probably noting in your question, a lot of the things that improve shrink will also improve damages and we’re seeing all of those things come to fruition. And so we feel good about our ability and our to that 40 basis points of improvement.

Operator: The next question comes from the line of Seth Sigman with Barclays. Please proceed with your question.

Seth Sigman: Hey, good morning, everyone. I wanted to focus on SG and A. Q2 seemed unique because of the incentive comp Returning. You talked about maintenance and repairs, I guess, in Q3. Can you talk a little bit more about the path back to normal operating leverage in light of the 2% to 3% comps that you mentioned? Guess a lot of costs have come back over the last two years, including this year or year to date. Should we assume this is just catch up and then we enter next year with a more normal expense base? How do you guys think about that? Thank you so much.

Kelly Dilts: Yes. No. That incentive piece is certainly a big headwind for us this year, almost $200 million. And so I think probably a more normalized rate is one that we would exit out of this year. As we think about going into 2026. I will say, there’s just been a ton of work around just making sure that we’re mitigating SG and A deleverage as we move forward. It’s part of our framework that we called out so that the huge focus for us. Specifically around simplifying work and driving efficiencies, as well as we think about the CapEx side and how it plays into depreciation. Just optimizing CapEx to stabilize depreciation and amortization.

And so working hard to make sure we’re mitigating that SG and A deleverage. And then with all of the gross margin levers that we have in place, that’s where we feel really good about getting to that 6% to 7% framework as we go over the mid to longer term.

Operator: The next question is from the line of Kelly Bania with BMO Capital Markets.

Kelly Bania: Hi. Good morning, and best of luck to you as well, Kelly. Thank you. Wanted to wanted to dig into the to the comp on the discretionary side. Sounds like the they were in that maybe 2.5 range, but can you unpack that between the price mix and units and just help us understand what is in the plan in terms of inflation for those discretionary categories in the back half?

Todd Vasos: That’s a great question. I would tell you that the AUR was very similar year over year in those categories. Matter of fact, you know, a lot of this is spring and summer during Q2 sales in seasonal areas as an example, and a lot of the goods that we brought in prior to tariffs really were the drivers here. So tariff and price increases were not a real factor in our overall comp in non-consumables. And as I mentioned earlier, even with tariff numbers starting to flow into our seasonal home and other categories, we’re still holding price points on many of them.

You heard me mention the 25% of our holiday assortment will be at a dollar or less. And as we look at 70% of our offering, still being at $3 or less. I would tell you that the team has done a really good job of trading off items and bringing in new items for the seasonal areas to keep price points pretty stable for our consumer overall, especially as we look at non-consumable businesses. I feel as if the business is very stable but growing. And the reason I am bullish there is we’re seeing the takeaway early on our holiday, especially in our harvest and Halloween areas. And those areas, again, have tariff rates embedded in them.

But again, very manageable for our core consumer. And then lastly, I would tell you that all of the work that the team has done in non-consumables is really starting to come together and start to generate this positive momentum we’re seeing. To your point, each of the three major categories in our non-consumable areas comped at 2.5 plus. Some of them couple of them crossed in the three mark. And I would tell you, you know, feeling really good about that sustained momentum as we go forward with all the work that the team has done through brand partnerships, as well as the what the team has done at execution at store level.

And I can’t say enough about that. That is a very big component especially for our trade-in consumer that’s coming in to resonate with these items.

Operator: The next question is from the line of Peter Keith with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question.

Peter Keith: Hi, thank you. Nice quarter, guys. And, Kelly, best wishes. Thank you. I was wondering if you had an early view on how the one big, beautiful bill will have an impact on your core customer And then maybe digging into that a little bit, looks like Snap Dollar’s will get cut starting in October. Maybe by about high single digit percent. Is that something that’s factored into the outlook? Do you think that will have any impact?

Todd Vasos: Yeah. Let me take the first one first. It Everything we know to date is factored into our outlook. Now, we don’t believe in snap things that are out there, especially those related to work requirements, will be very impactful for us. As we went through this a few years ago, the work rule requirements was not really a factor for that SNAP customer for us. Now as you look at the bill in totality, whether it s this year and items that will be coming up from 26 through ’29. You know, we believe, overall, it should be a little bit of a tailwind for our core consumer.

Some of you may be surprised at that, but I would tell you as you look at those areas, especially the ones that are already in play, even though a lot of them won’t be they won’t recognize the income until tax time next year. You know, things like no tax on tips. Up to the, you know, up to the levels. No tax on overtime. The Social Security no tax pieces. All of that is very beneficial for our core consumer. And we believe we will get our fair share of those benefits. As we move forward. So a lot of positives, at least initially early.

Some of the headwinds broader snap cuts perhaps and a few other things that probably come more in late twenty seven, twenty eight. We’ll continue to watch for. And see how they progress and what they look like But overall, feel really good about what our core customer initially will see from these tax benefits. We believe it really will be including the child tax credits, really be a benefit for our core consumer.

Operator: Thank you. Our last question is from the line of Robbie Ohmes with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.

Robbie Ohmes: Oh, thanks for sneaking in sneaking me in here. Todd, can you just talk about what Dollar General? Remind what you guys are doing on the fresh initiatives you guys are doing with DG Market and maybe how you see competing with Walmart and I guess, maybe even Amazon at some point trying to get more fresh food delivery into the rural markets.

Todd Vasos: Yeah. Thank you for the question. We’re really proud about the work that we’ve done in these fresh categories. And quite frankly, that work has been going on and accelerating for the last twelve, thirteen years here at excuse me, at Dollar General. As you As a reminder, we stood up our own fresh distribution network in 2021 and into early twenty two. Which has given us a real leg up and opportunity to get product to our stores. Timely and in full. We’ve got produce now in 7,000 plus stores. We have got fresh meat in thousands of others.

We are building our DG market concept and also putting produce in even outside of DG Market concept in our in our Dollar General stores where it makes sense. Especially as you mentioned in rural America. And the great thing about our delivery pieces is that and we’re already seeing it in rural America where folks are buying those fresh items, fresh, frozen, deli, dairy, produce online and being delivered in an hour or less. To our consumer base. We believe again, as I mentioned earlier, that to be a competitive advantage as we move forward, especially the speed that we’re able to offer her and at the value pricing that she knows and loves for that Dollar General already.

So we believe that it’s a powerful combination. That we will continue to cultivate in the years to come.

Operator: Thank you. At this time, we’ve reached the end of our question and answer session. This will also conclude today’s conference. You may now disconnect your lines at this time. We thank you for your participation, and have a wonderful day.

Millions of dollars began flowing into campaigns supporting and opposing an effort to redraw California’s congressional districts on the November ballot, notably $10 million from independent redistricting champion Charles Munger Jr.

The checks, reported Friday in state campaign finance disclosures, were made on Thursday, the day the state Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special election to replace the congressional districts drawn by an independent commission in 2021 with new districts that would boost the number of Democrats elected to Congress in next year’s midterm election.

The move is an effort by California Democrats to counter Texas Republicans’ and President Trump’s efforts to boost the number of GOP members.

Munger, a GOP donor and the son of a billionaire who was Warren Buffett’s right-hand man, bankrolled the 2010 ballot measure that created independent congressional redistricting in California. He donated $10 million to the “No on Prop. 50 – Protect Voters First” campaign,” which opposes the proposed redistricting.

“Charles Munger Jr. is making good on his promise to defend the reforms he passed,” said Amy Thoma, a spokesperson for the Voters First Coalition, which opposes the ballot measure and includes Munger.

A spokesperson for the campaign supporting the redrawing of congressional boundaries accused Munger of trying to boost the GOP under the guise of supporting independent redistricting.

“It’s no surprise that a billionaire who has given extensively to help Republicans take the house and [former Republican House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy would be joining forces to help Donald Trump steal five House seats and rig the 2026 midterm before a single American has voted,” said Hannah Milgrom, spokesperson for “Yes on 50: the Election Rigging Response Act.” “Prop 50 is America’s best chance to fight back – vote yes on November. 4.”

The campaign backing the ballot measure received $1 million on Thursday from a powerful labor group, SEIU’s state council; $300,000 from businessman Andrew Hauptman; and a flurry of other donations, according to the California secretary of state’s office. That is on top of the $5.8 million the campaign reported having in the bank as of July 30, including millions of dollars in contributions from House Majority PAC, which is focused on electing Democrats to Congress, and Newsom’s 2022 gubernatorial reelection campaign.

Redistricting typically happens once a decade after the U.S. census. Trump asked Texas lawmakers to redraw their congressional districts earlier this year, arguing that the GOP was entitled to five more members from the state. In response, California Democrats have pitched new district boundaries that could result in five more Democrats being elected to Congress.

A former Miami Heat security officer has pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge in connection to stealing team memorabilia worth millions of dollars and selling the items to online brokers.

Retired Miami police officer Marcos Tomas Perez appeared Tuesday at U.S. Superior Court for the Southern District of Florida and issued a guilty plea to transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce, after pleading not guilty to the felony count at an initial hearing earlier this month.

Perez’s attorney, Robert Buschel, told NBC6 in Florida after Tuesday’s hearing that Perez is “depressed, naturally, but he accepts responsibility for his behavior and we’re gonna work through this issue in his life.”

Perez, 62, faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 31.

“I hope that the judge will consider all factors in his life and his history as a good person,” Buschel said. “He was an exemplary police officer in the city of Miami, he’s been retired for close to 10 years. This was an unfortunate set of decisions that he made and he’s going to accept responsibility for that.”

Buschel declined to comment any further when reached by The Times via email Wednesday.

According to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Miami field office of the FBI, Perez has admitted to stealing hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia worth millions of dollars belonging to the Heat and selling them to online brokers.

One such item was a jersey that LeBron James wore in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals, during which James and the Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 to win their second consecutive championship. After Perez allegedly sold the jersey for around $100,000, it was sold in an online auction for $3.7 million in 2023.

According to court documents, other stolen items included jerseys signed by former Heat stars Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, Chris Bosh, Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal, as well as team jackets, game-worn sneakers and more.

California officials on Monday announced that the state is suing the Trump administration for holding back an estimated $939 million in education funds from the state — and about $6.8 billion nationwide — that school districts had expected to begin receiving on July 1, calling the action “unconstitutional, unlawful and arbitrary.”

The funding, already appropriated by Congress, supports programs to help students who are learning English and also those from migrant families. The money also boosts teacher training, after-school programs and classroom technology. The impact on Los Angeles Unified — the nation’s second-largest school system — was estimated by Supt. Alberto Carvalho to be at least $110.2 million.

California and three other Democratic-led states are taking the lead on the lawsuit on behalf of 23 states with Democratic attorneys general and the Democratic governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, which have Republican attorneys general. The suit was to be filed Monday in federal court in Rhode Island.

On Monday morning, Trump administration officials had not yet had an opportunity to review the lawsuit, but they have said no final decision has been made on the release of the withheld funds. The administration has cited alleged instances in which some of this money has been used in ways contrary to its policies. One example is the “separate and segregated academic instruction to new English learners,” according to a Trump administration official speaking not for attribution.

The Trump administration has tried to shut down — and often penalize — efforts to promote racial diversity, which it views as a form of discrimination and also has focused on controversies over LGBTQ+ issues. It also opposes what it views as advocacy and support for immigrants who lack legal status to live in the United States.

Although the held-back funds make up less than 1% of California’s education budget, they have an outsize cumulative effect. And they involve dollars that already have been accounted for in terms of staff hired and programs planned.

“With no rhyme or reason, the Trump Administration abruptly froze billions of dollars in education funding just weeks before the start of the school year,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said in a statement. “In doing so, it has threatened the existence of programs that provide critical after school and summer learning opportunities, that teach English to students, and that provide educational technology to our classrooms.”

The complaint argues that the Constitution does not give the executive branch power “to unilaterally refuse to spend appropriations that were passed by both houses of Congress and were signed into law.”

The lawsuit is being led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Colorado and Rhode Island. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis spoke of the issue at a webinar last week featuring activists and public officials.

“With many teachers not knowing whether to report to duty — that are funded by these streams — this is a very last minute, opaque decision to withhold billions of dollars from our schools,” said Polis, whose state was expecting to receive an estimated $80 million on July 1. “Every single school district in the country is impacted to some degree by this freeze, risking services like counseling, supporting students, teacher training — all investments that help students succeed.”

“These are funds that schools have already budgeted for — because the funding was already committed — and schools now have to make impossible decisions here just in the 11th hour, days or weeks before people were scheduled to report to work.”

Funding freeze blamed for ‘chaos’

The held-back funds are tied to programs that, in some cases, have received these dollars for decades. Each year the U.S. Department of Education makes around 25% of the funds available to states on or about July 1. This permits school districts to begin or continue their efforts in these areas.

“The plaintiff states have complied with the funding conditions set forth under the law and have state plans that the Department of Education has already approved,” according to a statement from Bonta’s office.

This year, instead of distributing the funding, the U.S. Department of Education notified school districts and state education offices, on June 30, that it would not be “obligating funds” for the affected programs.

In its 84-word communication to states, the administration listed the programs by their federal designation, including Title III-A, which supports students who are learning English. Also listed was Title I-C, which aims to help the children of migrant workers overcome learning challenges. Both programs had all their funds withheld.

Other similarly curtailed programs provide training for teachers and administrators; enhance the use of technology for academic achievement and digital literacy, and fund before- and after-school and summer programs.

“This funding freeze has immediately thrown into chaos plans for the upcoming academic year,” according to Bonta’s office. “Local education agencies have approved budgets, developed staffing plans and signed contracts to provide vital educational services under these grants.”

Los Angeles Unified plans to carry affected programs using district reserves, but this money was already designated for other uses over the long term. Ultimately, hundreds of positions are funded by the estimated $110.2 million at stake.

The greatest impact would be seen once schools begin to open across the nation in August, but there have been immediate effects.

The Thomasville Community Resource Center in Georgia ended its summer program three weeks early, affecting more than 300 children in two counties. In Missouri, the Laclede Literacy Council laid off 16 of 17 staff members after adult education funds were held back.

Texas is estimated to be short approximately $660 million in expected education funding, according to the Texas Standard news site. The freeze particularly affects students learning English, nearly one in four Texas students. During the 2024-25 school year, Texas received more than $132 million from the federal government to support these students.

A rising mountain of litigation

The Trump administration action — and the litigation that has followed — represent the latest of many conflicts over funding and policy with California.

Last week, it was the Trump administration that initiated litigation, suing California for allowing transgender athletes to compete on school sports teams that match their gender identity. The administration alleges that state officials are violating federal civil rights law by discriminating against women, a legal action that threatens billions of dollars in federal education funds.

In line with California law, state education policy specifically allows athletic participation based on a student’s gender identity.

In that litigation, the amount of funding that the Trump administration asserts to be at stake is staggering, with federal officials citing a figure of $44.3 billion in funding that California was allotted for the current year, including $3.8 billion not yet sent out — money that is immediately endangered.

“Potentially, all federal dollars to California public entities are at risk,” said a senior official with the U.S. Department of Education, who spoke on a not-for-attribution basis.

Separately, the department has canceled or modified more than $1 billion in contracts and grants “based on the inclusion of illegal DEI or being out of alignment with Administration priorities,” said spokesperson Madi Biedermann, alluding to programs categorized as including “diversity, equity and inclusion” components.

Altogether, California is involved in more than two dozens lawsuits opposing Trump administration actions.

“Taken together with his other attacks on education, President Trump seems comfortable risking the academic success of a generation to further his own misguided political agenda,” Bonta said. “But as with so many of his other actions, this funding freeze is blatantly illegal, and we’re confident the court will agree.”

The lawsuits against the Trump administration have resulted in a multitude of restraining orders, but have not halted all major Trump actions related to education and other areas.

Trump has insisted that he wants to return education to the states and cut wasteful and ineffective spending. He also has tried to exert greater federal control in education over so-called culture-war issues.

Whatever the wealthy want, they get… this is the staff code at Luxico, a luxury accommodation business that shows how the other half live…

Lobster for breakfast? Private beach? String quartet? Shut down an entire venue? Iron the pillow cases? Whatever the wealthy want on holiday, they get. Jaw-dropping new series, Billion Dollar Playground (Monday 7th July, BBC Three, 9pm) follows the staff at Luxico, Australia ’s No.1 luxury accommodation business, who work around the clock to deliver a luxury experience to the super rich – and the super demanding.

Lead concierge Salvatore, a professional perfectionist, says: “Rich people want all kinds of things. If my guests want lobster for breakfast, they get it. They want a Lambhorgini, no problem sir. “I’ve had to be a best friend, the servant and a downright slave. You can never tell these people ‘no’.” CEO Alex says: “Our guests are the world ’s elite. They’re uber wealthy and highly demanding. To make the impossible possible, our team are available 24/7.”

There’s a ‘Selling Sunset’ vibe to this show as we also follow the tensions and rivalries between the staff members – all of whom are beautiful. Concierge Heaven says: “I have a super power. The guests love me because I make their dreams come true.” She’s not too impressed when a new concierge arrives, Jasmin, who says: “I’m hungry for this job.” Matt and George know their role. “We’re a couple of good looking brothers who can cook,” says George. There’s also JB, the snooty French butler, trainee Nicole, driver Jay and housekeeper Elsie, who loves the job because she’s nosy. As everyone flirts, rows and gets tense over a smudge or a crinkle, this is a fascinating peek at homes worth millions and guests who want it all.

Billion Dollar Playground is airing on BBC Three tonight at 9pm.

There’s plenty more on TV tonight – here’s the best of the rest..

INSOMNIA, 5, 9pm

This began last night with an old lady muttering numbers to herself, before slamming her head into a mirror and knocking herself out. It was a creepy opening to this gripping six-part thriller, adapted from the bestselling novel by Sarah Pinsborough and starring Line of Duty actor Vicky McClure. Vicky plays successful lawyer Emma Averill, who begins to suffer from insomnia as her 40th birthday approaches, just as her mother Patricia had done before suffering a psychotic break.

The old lady turned out to be Patricia, and Emma’s sister Phoebe (Leanne Best) was trying to get the mother and daughter to mend bridges at hospital. In tonight’s episode, Emma’s irritation at Phoebe’s presence gives way to shock when she learns that their mother is dead. Distracted, Emma accidentally hits a cyclist, care worker Caroline. That night, Emma’s disturbing nighttime activity escalates when she wakes up calf-deep in the pond. Is she going mad like her mother? Either way, she’s definitely not sleeping and life is unravelling…

SCRUBLANDS: SILVER, BBC2, 9pm

This Australian rural noir drama, set in the heart of the outback, follows journalist Martin Scarsden as he tries to get to the bottom of a murder in his hometown. Martin (Luke Arnold) had been looking forward to a peaceful holiday with his partner Mandy (Bella Heathcote), but on the way he got a strange call from his childhood friend Jasper. When he arrived, Jasper was dead – and Mandy was holding the weapon.

Mandy has now been arrested and is in a police cell as she is presented with the knife that killed Jasper. A witness claims they saw her throw it in the river the previous night – it was an anonymous tip off. “So Mandy murdered Jasper, hid the knife, then what three days later just tossed it in a river? Have you intereviewed anyone else?” shouts Martin. The only thing Martin can do is continue to hunt for the real killer. Meanwhile, a vigil for Jasper is organised at Hummingbird retreat. Concludes tomorrow night.

24 HOURS IN POLICE CUSTODY: NIGHTCLUB PREDATOR, CHANNEL 4, 8pm

This is the conclusion of a two-part special, following the chilling case of serial sexual predator Craig France. France, 33, targeted young women at nightclubs and plied them with alcohol before taking them to his property where he had set up hidden cameras. Cameras follow as officers from Cambridgeshire Police Rape Investigation team wait for the CPS to approve charges for rape and voyeurism. But they are only just beginning to understand the darkest depths of France’s criminality.

Digital investigators are horrified to discover that hidden within his devices are not only videos of the two known victims, but hundreds of other explicit videos of young women in vulnerable states, seemingly captured without their knowledge. As he applies for bail, the threat of his release from prison intensifies pressure on the team, who have to knock on the doors of the women identified in France’s videos, and drop the bombshell that they may be unknowing victims of this dangerous criminal.

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