Diamonds and Dogs

3/10/16

More bang with your buck with today's diamond, Dollar General (DG). The stock  is surging 10% to a new 52 week high thanks to better than expected earnings. The discount retailer is the second best performer this year in the S&P 500. Besides strong earnings, Dollar General expects 10-15% EPS growth going forward. The company expects 2016 comps at the mid-point of the range and EPS at the high end including the extra week.  Management views these goals as highly achievable regardless of the macro environment given the defensive growth nature of the story.  The company expects to give back $1.3 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Credit Suisse upgraded the stock with a 12 month target price of $90 a share.

Be there or be Square as our dog for the day. This has not been a good six months for Jack Dorsey. The CEO of Twitter and Square Inc (SQ) can't catch a break as each stock is down and down pretty good. Square Inc. (SQ) stock is fell 6% today even after reporting better than expected earnings. The payment processing company beat fourth-quarter expectations Wednesday, in its first earnings as a public company, driven by strong holiday sales. Wedbush Securities analyst made cautious comments saying there seems to be a decline in their lending segment.  The analyst further said the lending business may be a risky engine for growth at this point of the cycle.