GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ Dollar General Corp. (DG) on Thursday reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $650.4 million.

The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based company said it had net income of $2.56 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 23 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.70 per share.

The discount retailer posted revenue of $8.45 billion in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Twenty-two analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $7.46 billion.

Dollar General shares have risen 20% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined 6%. The stock has increased 56% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on DG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/DG

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News