Adds shares, CEO comment in paragraph 5 and analyst comment in paragraph 7

June 11 (Reuters) - Canada's Dollarama DOL.TO beat quarterly sales and profit estimates on Thursday as cost-conscious shoppers turned to the discount retailer for low-priced essentials, sending its shares up about 7% in early trading.

Sticky inflation has kept shoppers focused on value, with rising gasoline prices linked to the Middle East conflict adding pressure on household budgets.

In the United States, major retailers, including Walmart WMT.O, Target TGT.N, as well as discount goods firms Dollar Tree DLTR.O and Dollar General DG.N have flagged a cautious spending environment in recent weeks.

Dollarama, which sells most of its products for between C$1 and C$5, also maintained its annual comparable sales growth forecast of 3% to 4%.

"We expect our strong value proposition to continue resonating with customers," CEO Neil Rossy said.

The company last year bought Australia's discount chain The Reject Shop in a move to expand its business outside Canada. It also operates in Mexico through its Dollarcity subsidiary, which it continues to expand.

"Progress at Mexico and Australia reinforce our view the business model is portable and they should be the next engines of outsized growth," TD Cowen analyst Brian Morrison said.

Dollarama posted net sales of C$1.85 billion ($1.32 billion) for the first quarter, compared with analysts' average estimate of C$1.82 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It reported quarterly net earnings of C$302.3 million, or C$1.11 per share, in the three months ended May 3, compared to C$273.8 million, or 98 Canadian cents per share, from a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned C$1.05 compared to the expectation of 99 Canadian cents per share.

($1 = 1.3981 Canadian dollars)