Casey's General Stores, Inc. Q3 FY2026 earnings call

• Darren praised the entire Casey's team for their hard work. • Highlighted the positive impact of Casey's Feeding America campaign in partnership with DoorDash. • Diluted earnings per share finished at $3.49 per share, up 50% from prior year. Net income was $130 million, up 49% from prior year. EBITDA was $309 million, 27.5% higher than prior year. • Inside prepared food and dispensed beverages remain strong. Grocery and general merchandise margin expanded. • Forecourt same-store gallons grew for fifth consecutive quarter, fuel margin over 40 cents per gallon. • Chicken wings test expanded to over 550 stores. Casey's rewards crossed 10 million members. • Plan to hold investor day on June 24th to release next three-year strategic plan.

Inside: Same-store sales were up 4% for the third quarter, or 7.9% on a two-year stack basis, with an average margin of 42.2%. Same-store prepared food and dispensed beverage led the way, with sales up 4.3%, or 9.2% on a two-year stack basis, and an average margin of 58.3%. Same-store grocery and general merchandise sales were up 4%, or 7.4% on a two-year stack basis, with an average margin of 35.7%. Forecourt: Same-store gallons grew for the fifth consecutive quarter, while fuel margin exceeded 40 cents per gallon. Total revenue was $3.91 billion. Inside sales were $1.48 billion, up 5.7% from prior year. Prepared food and dispensed beverage sales rose by $26 million to $423 million, an increase of 6.5%. Grocery and general merchandise sales increased by $54 million to $1.06 billion, an increase of 5.4%. Retail fuel sales were down $57 million. Gross profit was $1.01 billion, an increase of $94 million or 10.3% from the prior year.

• Fiscal 26 EBITDA is expected to increase 18% to 20%. • Inside same-store sales expected to increase between 3.5% to 4.5%. • Inside margin expected to be between 41.5% to 42.5%. • Total operating expenses expected to increase approximately 10%. • Tax rate expected to be between 23.5% and 24.5% for the fiscal year.

• Integration of recent acquisitions risk. • Ability to execute on strategic plan or realize benefits from it risk. • Impact and duration of conflicts in oil-producing regions and related governmental actions risk. • Other risks, uncertainties, and factors described in most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

Q: Corey Tarlow with Jefferies asked about impact of volatility on business and fuel sales/profitability.

A: Volatility is par for the course, margins get compressed front end and expand back end. Volume demand destruction not seen until retail price near $5/gallon.

Q: Steve Bramlage with Jefferies followed up on inside same-store sales pricing.

A: Don't lean heavily into price for prepared food, use pricing to preserve margin on grocery.

Q: Mark Harding with UBS asked about non-alcoholic beverages growth in grocery.

A: Driven by energy and flavor-enhanced waters, no stocking up behavior in third quarter.

Q: Chuck Grum with Gordon Haskett asked about inside same-store sales guidance and consumer health.

A: Consumer still shops across income cohorts, lower income cohorts growing in prepared foods. Year-to-date inside number around 3.8%, fourth quarter expected close to year-to-date.

Q: Kelly Bonilla with BMO Capital Markets asked about fuel consumer behavior and wings rollout.

A: No guest behavior change yet, wings to be rolled out over next two years with measured pace, pricing similar to pizza.

Q: Michael Mentani with Evercore ISI asked about SEFCO synergies and wings CapEx/labor.

A: SEFCO synergies right where expected, wings CapEx light, labor via labor modeling.

Q: Bonnie Herzog with Goldman Sachs asked about new unit growth durability.

A: On track to open 80 stores this year, well-positioned for new unit growth.

Q: Jacob Aiken-Phillips with Mellis Research asked about growth levers and cheese.

A: Growth levers include new units, efficient operations, inside sales; cheese usage around 45 million pounds, 80% locked in.

Q: Edward Kelly with Wells Fargo asked about wings margin and M&A integration.

A: Wings margin profile good, M&A integration on track, can do larger deal if opportunity arises.

Q: Brad Thomas with KeyBank Capital Markets asked about competitive landscape and oil prices.

A: Casey's advantage in three businesses, oil price volatility runs its course.

Q: Jack Harden with Stevens asked about labor runway.

A: Closer to steady state labor model, continuous improvement but not expecting same labor decreases as past three years.

Q: Scott Stringer with Wolf Research asked about fuel volume guidance and tobacco sales.

A: Tracking in guidance range, tobacco alternative growth potential as combustible decline slows