← Option Trades · Experimental · High Risk
DG: Long call
BullishDollar General
The trade-down winner reports Thursday morning with a 21% average beat behind it.
By Atul Ghandhi · Updated August 25, 2026 (2026-08-25)
The Trade
| Leg | Type | Strike | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| buy | call | $130.00 | Fri, Aug 28 |
Struck against: $125.33 ▲ 1.56% (Aug 24 close, per StockAnalysis.com)
Catalyst: Q2 FY2026 earnings, Thursday Aug 27 before the open
New to this structure? Calls and puts explained →
The Exits
- Event hold
- The print lands before Thursday’s open, so the position holds through Wednesday regardless.
- Profit order
- Sell into Thursday’s first hour on any gap above $131. The first hour is where earnings gaps are richest.
- Time stop
- On a miss, take whatever the call fetches before Thursday noon. Hope is not an exit.
Why This Trade
Dollar General reports Thursday before the open. Consensus asks for $2.00 of earnings on $11.17 billion of revenue. The company has beaten the earnings estimate by 21% on average over the last four quarters.
The consumer backdrop is the reason to care. Michigan’s preliminary August sentiment reading collapsed to 51.0, and a squeezed shopper trades down. Dollar stores are where that trade lands.
The stock closed at $125.33, up 1.56% on Monday. The $130 strike asks for a 3.7% move by Friday, with the print itself as the engine.
The bear case is real: last week’s retail prints described a shopper split by ticket size. If the low-income half is cutting units rather than switching stores, the guide disappoints and the call dies.
The Chain
The Fri, Aug 28 strikes this trade lives in. Cboe delayed quotes as of 2026-08-25 15:38:33 ET, with DG at $123.15. The page refreshes the numbers hourly.
| Calls | Strike | Puts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bid | Ask | Last | · | Bid | Ask | Last |
| 5.50 | 6.05 | 7.14 | 122.00 | 4.30 | 5.05 | 4.15 |
| 3.85 | 4.55 | 4.26 | 125.00 | 5.60 | 6.35 | 5.65 |
| 2.91 | 3.50 | 3.10 | 128.00 | 6.95 | 8.25 | 7.03 |
| 2.08 | 2.73 | 2.45 | 130.00 | 8.20 | 10.40 | 11.34 |
| 1.75 | 2.07 | 2.50 | 132.00 | 9.30 | 11.95 | 9.35 |