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Just days after Dollar General agreed to a $1.9 million settlement with New York over allegations that it charged shoppers more than advertised, it is facing a much larger legal challenge.

The discount retailer’s pricing troubles don’t appear to be ending anytime soon, as the allegations this time extend nationwide.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), joined by 20 states, has sued Dollar General, accusing the retailer of repeatedly overcharging customers at checkout despite knowing about the pricing discrepancies for years.

The lawsuit, filed on October 26, alleges that customers were routinely charged more than the prices displayed on shelves, on product tags, in weekly advertisements, and in digital promotions.

According to the FTC’s original complaint, the company received at least 29,265 complaints involving advertised prices not being honored between January 2023 and March 2026, spanning all 48 states where Dollar General operates.

The latest lawsuit has put renewed scrutiny on the retailer’s low-price promise to millions of Americans who depend on discount stores for everyday essentials.

FTC and 20 states sue Dollar General over widespread pricing problems

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and includes the 20 participating states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee, among others.

Federal and state regulators allege that Dollar General generated millions of dollars through repeated overcharges at thousands of stores while failing to implement adequate safeguards to correct the problem.

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The complaint also cites investigations in which FTC employees made undercover purchases at Dollar General stores in Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Maryland between January and April 2026.

According to the complaint, every undercover purchase resulted in multiple products ringing up at higher-than-advertised prices.

At a Cleveland, Ohio, store, investigators found eight overcharged items among 58 purchases, along with five items priced below their advertised amounts. The errors resulted in a net overcharge of $3.25.

At another store in Springfield, Missouri, six of 59 products had incorrect prices, resulting in a net overcharge of $4.07.

The findings were not limited to shelf labels.

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The lawsuit also cites customers who complained that advertised discounts, buy-one-get-one-free offers, and digital promotions were not applied correctly at checkout.

In one example, a Pennsylvania shopper complained that a promotion advertising five two-liter soda bottles for $5 was not honored, with the bottles instead ringing up at $2.95 each.

The complaint alleges that inadequate staffing and failures to replace outdated shelf labels contributed to recurring pricing discrepancies.

Dollar General pushes back against FTC allegations

Dollar General has disputed the allegations and said it intends to defend itself in court.

In an October 26 statement, the company maintained that accurate pricing remains a priority. “Our goal is 100% accuracy between shelf and register prices in every store,” Dollar General said.

The retailer said about the suggestions in the lawsuit, “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

The retailer acknowledged that occasional pricing discrepancies can occur but said employees are instructed to correct them when customers raise concerns.

Dollar General also disputed the FTC’s calculation of potential consumer compensation, arguing that the proposed amount was significantly higher than what could reasonably be attributed to pricing errors.

The company said it cooperated with investigators, providing more than 200,000 documents and 350 gigabytes of data.

It also said it had attempted to negotiate a settlement before the FTC filed the lawsuit.

The agency and participating states are seeking a permanent injunction to prevent future violations, as well as monetary relief and civil penalties.

No settlement amount or consumer refund program has been established in the new federal case.

The allegations have not been decided by a court.

Dollar General recently settled another overcharging investigation

The federal lawsuit comes less than two weeks after Dollar General reached a separate agreement with New York Attorney General Letitia James.

I previously reported that an investigation found that Dollar General repeatedly charged New York customers higher prices than advertised.

Investigators reviewed 913 price-accuracy inspections across 287 locations and found that 43% failed to meet the state’s pricing-accuracy requirements.

In a separate undercover investigation, officials were overcharged on approximately 14% of the items purchased.

Dollar General agreed to a $1.875 million settlement, payable through donations of food and personal-care products to nonprofit Foodlink, along with changes to pricing practices and customer receipts.

The agreement does not provide direct refunds to affected shoppers. Dollar General neither admitted nor denied the state’s findings.

New York is not among the 20 states participating in the new federal lawsuit.

According to the latest FTC complaint, Dollar General has entered into seven settlements with six state enforcement agencies over inaccurate pricing since 2019, paying more than $6 million in penalties.

Related: Dollar General accused of overcharging shoppers, settles for $1.9 million

The company also previously settled a nationwide consumer class-action lawsuit valued at $15 million.

The escalating legal challenges come as Dollar General continues emphasizing its affordability to Americans struggling with everyday expenses.

According to the FTC complaint, households earning $35,000 or less account for approximately 60% of Dollar General’s revenue. The company also offers around 2,000 products priced at $1 or less.

The latest lawsuit could result in additional pricing reforms and financial relief for consumers if regulators prevail, although no compensation is guaranteed.

For now, shoppers may want to compare shelf prices, weekly promotions, and digital coupons against their checkout receipts.

Latest Retail NewsT-Mobile introduces phone plans with new rules for customer perksPopular brand for moms files Chapter 11 bankruptcyTarget reinvents its $3 billion home brandPlanet Fitness appears to have a new customer problem

T-Mobile is launching a new slate of phone plans with an updated customer perk system that it says sets it apart from rivals.

The move comes after it confirmed the retirement of several legacy wireless plans in June and automatically placed some customers affected by the change onto higher-priced alternatives.

On an earnings call in July, the company revealed that it expects an uptick in customer losses and a slowdown in account additions in the third quarter of this year as a result of this change, while reaffirming its focus on delivering value.

“Our strategy is simple, but truly powerful,” said T-Mobile CEO Srini Gopalan on the call. “Give customers the best network, the best value, and the best experience all in one place. That’s how we eliminate trade-offs for our customers, and that’s what truly sets us apart.”

T-Mobile introduces its new T-Mix plans

Amid this strategy, T-Mobile has finally revealed its new T-Mix plans, which allow customers to customize their perks and device promotions, a “first-of-its-kind approach” in the wireless industry, according to a recent press release.

Earlier this month, T-Mobile teased the release of T-Mix at one of its Kansas stores with signage that read “pick what you want” and “change what you want.”

T-Mix comes in three different plan tiers: Standard, More, and Loaded, which start at $55, $75, and $95 for a single line, respectively. The plans officially launch in November. 

Standard offers 50 GB of premium data, 480p video streaming, unlimited 3G hotspot, unlimited 2G data in Canada/Mexico, and unlimited texting in over 215 countries and territories (a feature that is included in all tiers).

Read more: T-Mobile adds monthly fee to a new iPhone feature for customers

T-Mix More has more bandwidth with unlimited premium data, up to 4K UHD video streaming, up to 60GB of high-speed hotspot data, 15GB of high-speed data in Canada/Mexico, and 5GB of high-speed international data (then goes to unlimited at 256 kbps). 

The Loaded tier is pretty similar to More; however, it offers up to 250GB of high-speed hotspot data, 30GB of high-speed data in Canada/Mexico, and up to 15GB of high-speed international data. 

T-Mobile has introduced its T-Mix plan lineup, which contains a new way for customers to obtain perks.Helen89/Shutterstock

How T-Mobile customers can use “Picks” for perks and wireless benefits

The new T-Mix plans also introduce a new “Picks” system, where customers can use picks to obtain wireless benefits like device promotions, T-Satellite, and optimized video calls, a new feature that gives video calls “prioritized access” to T-Mobile’s network.

They can also be used for a wide range of perks, such as subscriptions to Apple TV, Netflix, Hulu, and DoorDash DashPass. Newer perks include access to Delta SkyMiles, ESPN Unlimited, Google Gemini, YouTube Premium, XBOX Game Pass, and more. 

Picks are included in all T-Mix plans, and the amount customers receive to spend on perks and wireless benefits depends on the plan tier and the number of lines. 

For instance, Standard offers one pick per line, up to a maximum of four lines. Under the More tier, customers earn two picks for each of their first three lines, and one pick for the fourth line.

Finally, for Loaded, customers get three picks each for lines one through three, but for the fourth line, they get two. 

Each customer perk customers want to add to their T-Mix plans costs a certain number of picks. For example, the Netflix Standard with ads perk costs one pick, the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate perk costs three picks, and ESPN Unlimited costs four picks. 

“Customers are empowered to change their benefit mix every three months as their needs and preferences change,” T-Mobile said.

“The wireless industry has spent decades telling customers what their plan should be — even though 84% of consumers surveyed want more control over what they pay for,” said Allan Samson, chief marketing officer of T‑Mobile, in the press release. 

“One-size-fits-all was simple for the industry, but for customers it turned into one-size-fits-nobody,” he continued. “T-Mix flips that model, giving customers more say in what matters to them and plans that they can change as their lives change. This is another big step in our journey to make wireless value more relevant, more flexible and built around the customer.”

T-Mobile’s new T-Mix plans arrive as consumers rethink wireless value

The new T-Mobile T-Mix plans come at a time when more Americans are seeking value in their wireless plans as prices rise.

Prices for wireless services increased 3.2% year over year in September, according to Consumer Price Index data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As wireless plans become more expensive, a new survey from Oxio, which was shared with TheStreet, found that 56% of U.S. consumers would consider switching wireless carriers for a lower-priced plan. 

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In addition, 38% said they value and actively use the digital services and perks included in their wireless plans, while 26% would prefer a lower monthly bill and the ability to select their own subscriptions.

Bob O’Donnell, a chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, wrote in a recent Forbes analysis that the timing of T-Mobile’s new T-Mix plans “just makes sense,” given “recent stories about the challenges that many US households are facing when it comes to paying all their bills.

“Getting people excited or even interested in service plans can be a challenge for any telco company, but the concept of offering a customized set of services that people actually care about bundled with your cellular service is bound to be appealing to some people,” wrote O’Donnell.

“Plus, when you consider that, according to research that T-Mo shared, the average US household is spending $219 a month on services similar to the ones being offered (including cellular), it becomes a compelling value story,” he continued. 

Related: T-Mobile reduces a generous discount as customers see prices rise

Celestica expects revenue to nearly double to $40 billion in 2027, a 90% increase from its outlook for this year, as major cloud and artificial intelligence customers ramp up demand for networking equipment and custom computing systems.

The Canadian technology company designs and manufactures hardware used in large data centers, including high-speed network switches and systems built around specialized AI processors. 

The forecast follows a strong third quarter. Celestica’s revenue jumped 83% from a year earlier to $5.83 billion, and adjusted earnings more than doubled to $3.30 per share, exceeding the company’s previous guidance. 

Celestica (CLS) also raised its 2026 revenue forecast to $21 billion from $20.5 billion in its third-quarter earnings announcement on Oct. 26.

Celestica shares jumped 12.62% to $277.76 in afternoon trading on Oct. 27.

Google and OpenAI programs fuel Celestica’s growth

Celestica’s Connectivity & Cloud Solutions business, which supplies data-center networking and computing equipment, generated $4.87 billion in third-quarter revenue, up 102% from a year earlier.

Revenue from its Compute & Storage business grew 242%, driven by higher volumes of AI computing systems and demand for storage products, according to the company’s quarterly filing.

Also read: Broadcom gets major OpenAI boost in AI chip race

Google is one of the customers behind Celestica’s expansion plans.

Celestica is increasing its U.S. manufacturing capacity to support systems built around  Google’s Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, specialized chips designed to handle AI tasks. The company, which describes itself as a preferred manufacturing partner for Google’s data-center hardware, expects its U.S. expansion to be completed in 2027.

Celestica is also preparing to ramp production of hardware systems built around OpenAI’s Jalapeño AI accelerator.

OpenAI designed the processor with help from Broadcom, which provides chip implementation and networking technology. Celestica contributes circuit board, server rack, and system engineering expertise to help bring the platform into large-scale production.

The companies announced the Jalapeño project in June, with plans to expand the custom AI computing platform over multiple generations.

Beyond custom AI systems, Celestica supplies networking equipment that connects large numbers of processors inside data centers.

Its 800-gigabit and 1.6-terabit Ethernet switches help move data between AI chips at high speeds. As cloud operators build larger AI clusters, they need faster connections to prevent data transfers from slowing down computing workloads.

Earlier this month, Celestica introduced the DS6005, a liquid-cooled network switch designed to support dense AI clusters and reduce power consumption.

zhihao / Getty Images

At its Oct. 27 investor and Analyst Day, Celestica said customer demand forecasts for 2028 are already meaningfully higher than its $40 billion revenue outlook for 2027.

Management said those projections are based on programs Celestica has already won. However, the forecasts still depend on customer deployment schedules and do not represent guaranteed future revenue.

Meeting the expected demand will require Celestica to expand its manufacturing capacity before many of the planned AI systems are ready for delivery.

Celestica plans up to $2 billion to expand production

Celestica expects to spend $1.5 billion to $2 billion on capital investments in 2027, up from roughly $1 billion planned for 2026.

The company is adding production capacity at its U.S. facilities in Texas, upgrading operations in Mexico and expanding its manufacturing campus in Thailand.

Some of the investment will also go toward additional electrical capacity and automated production lines to assemble and test complex AI systems.

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Celestica must pay for much of that expansion before the new equipment generates revenue.

The company lowered its 2026 non-GAAP free-cash-flow forecast to $460 million from $600 million, citing additional working capital needed to prepare for next year’s growth.

Working capital includes money tied up in inventory and other operating needs. Celestica may need to buy components and increase production before customers pay for the completed hardware.

Management said during its Oct. 27 earnings call that it expects a net use of cash in 2027 as capital spending and working capital requirements increase.

Celestica has already raised additional funds to support its expansion. The company completed a $3.45 billion stock offering in August and ended September with approximately $4 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

The expansion also leaves Celestica exposed to changes in the plans of its largest customers. 

Its latest quarterly filing shows that one customer accounted for 35% of third-quarter revenue, while its 10 largest customers generated 85%.

If a major customer delays an AI project, changes its hardware requirements, or cuts planned spending, Celestica could be left with production capacity built for orders that arrive later than expected.

The next test will be whether Celestica can bring its new factories and production lines online fast enough to deliver the nearly $19 billion in additional annual revenue it expects in 2027.

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Wall Street spent much of 2026 waiting for the AI giants to go public. Now that the moment is arriving, one of the market’s loudest voices is asking whether investors have enough money to buy them all. It is a question about supply, not about whether AI works.

The timing is hard to ignore. Anthropic filed its public IPO paperwork on Oct. 26, and reports have said the listing could value the company at $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion.

That would put it in the same league as SpaceX, which listed in June, according to Reuters. Its arrival turns a long-running debate into a live test.

Anthropic’s filing puts a price tag on the AI boom

The prospectus shows how quickly the business has grown. Anthropic reported $16.3 billion in revenue for the first half of 2026 and plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT, aiming for a mid-November debut. It reported an operating loss of $693 million over the same period.

Also read: Meta and Microsoft just sent employees a memo about Anthropic

The spending is just as striking. Anthropic disclosed future obligations of roughly $518 billion for compute, covering data centres, equipment and cloud services, in an earlier filing. By the time it filed its S-1 on Oct. 26, Reuters reported those commitments had grown to more than $600 billion across approximately eight partners.

It is also paying SpaceX about $1.25 billion a month for access to the Colossus data center in Tennessee, under a deal running through May 2029. Commitments of that size require steady access to capital.

That is the kind of scale behind Cramer’s worry. Even before the public filing, Anthropic had told investors it expected to spend at least $518 billion over the next decade building AI infrastructure with six partners, according to TheStreet. That figure climbed further by the time the S-1 was filed. Axios editor Dan Primack said the S-1 marked a shift toward using public markets to finance compute spending.

Key details are still missing. The prospectus did not say how many shares Anthropic will sell or at what price, and it flagged risks from AI itself as well as to the company’s business model. The size of the raise will go a long way toward answering Cramer’s question.

A crowded market for new shares

SpaceX set the tone in June with the largest IPO on record. Its total proceeds reached $85.7 billion after underwriters exercised their option to buy additional shares, Reuters reported. That one deal alone soaked up a huge pool of investor cash.

The overall pipeline has been unusually heavy. By early summer, 65 U.S. IPOs had raised $114.1 billion in 2026, more than seven times the amount raised in the same period a year earlier. Cramer now puts the year’s IPO total at $148 billion.

More is on the way. OpenAI filed confidentially earlier this year, and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told employees on Aug. 19 that the company will be public in 2027, and possibly sooner. OpenAI raised $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation in March, the largest private round on record.

The debt market is carrying its share of the load too. Alphabet raised $20 billion in a single bond sale in February, after Meta issued nearly $30 billion in bonds the previous October, Axios reported. Oracle’s bond offerings, the outlet noted, have not fared as well as those from Meta or Alphabet.

Anthropic filed its public IPO paperwork on Oct. 26, and reports have said the listing could value the company at $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion.VCG / Getty Images

Why this is not 2000, and why it still rhymes

There are reasons to think the market can handle it. JPMorgan strategists argued that corporate demand alone may have the capacity to absorb a large share of the equity supply coming to market. Record buybacks and cash-funded mergers both help pull shares off the market.

History offers some comfort as well. Past mega-offerings have not reliably signalled market peaks. That nuance matters for anyone tempted to treat every big listing as a sell signal. Cramer has stressed that today’s AI leaders are so well capitalised the boom does not have to end the way the dot-com era did.

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The real test is how investors price that spending. Anthropic’s IPO will be the first chance for Wall Street to put a public value on its locked-in infrastructure bets, according to TheStreet. A strong reception would ease Cramer’s fears, while a weak one could confirm them.

Profitability will be part of that debate. Anthropic reported a net loss of $80.7 billion through June, though nearly $72 billion of that came from a non-cash accounting charge tied to convertible bonds, not from operations.

Cramer is not calling a top

Supply alone may not end a bull market. Cramer’s point is that it weakens the rally until a bad quarter, a rate hike or a run on margin can finish the job, as reported by CNBC. That is a slow-burn risk rather than a sudden one.

For everyday investors, the signal to watch is how the biggest deals trade after they list. Investors expect Anthropic to go public at a valuation near $2 trillion, which would top SpaceX’s $1.77 trillion IPO valuation. A smooth debut would suggest the market still has room for more.

The AI story itself may be sound. The question Cramer is raising is whether there is enough money to fund it all at once. PitchBook’s John Atkins said in February that as much as half a trillion dollars more in bonds could be issued this year. The next few months of IPOs and bond sales will show whether investors can absorb it all.

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