Sep 9, 2026 earnings call — Strong quarter and Cefco remodel integration
Diluted EPS finished at $7.37 per share, up 28% from the prior year.
Revenue $5.7B (est $5.6B) · EPS $7.37 (est $6.78)
Key quotes
"Prepared food and dispensed beverage led the way, as same store sales were up 4.8% or 10.7% on a 2-year stack basis with a gross profit margin of 59.3%."
"Fuel margin was nearly $0.48 per gallon, while same store gallons were roughly flat."
"As part of our integration of the Fikes acquisition, approximately 1% of our total store base had a planned disruption associated with remodeling legacy Cefco stores to Casey's."
Analyst Q&A 14
Fuel margin trend and sustainability
Q (Edward Kelly · Wells Fargo): He asked how fuel margins trended in Q1, what drove the strong prior quarter and start, and whether current signs threaten the mid-40s margin guide, including breakeven levels.
A: They entered the year in a good position but Q1 was volatile for fuel margins. Most days were in the 40s, with some days in the 60s and some in the 30s, and margins moved with headlines. The floor remained higher because of the conflict, but there was no clear steady trend through the quarter.
"But I would say honestly that the quarter was volatile is the word I would describe with fuel margins." — Stephen Bramlage Jr.
Grocery and food comp trends
Q (Greg Millik · Evercore): He asked how much of the comp deceleration in grocery and food was from consumers being squeezed by higher gas costs, and what the trends have been since the quarter.
A: Trends in Q1 were similar to recent quarters; lower-income consumers were slightly more affected, but all three income cohorts had positive growth. Weakness was category-driven in beer, snacks, and cigarettes, while liquor (ready-to-drink cocktails), nicotine alternatives, energy, and nonalcoholic beverages were strong. On a two-year stack, grocery and general merchandise were up 6.5%.
"I would say that, the trends that we saw in first quarter were similar to what we have seen over the last several quarters." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
Remodel drag and recovery timing
Q (Thomas Palmer · JPMorgan): He asked how the CEFCO remodel headwinds compared to past remodels and whether the lift from remodeled stores will offset disruption in coming quarters.
A: Heavy remodels this tranche cause more disruption than prior quick conversions because these stores are impacted anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. CEFCO stores are higher-volume, so the drag is disproportionate, and the inflection to net positive results is likely later in the fiscal year — not meaningfully in Q2 or Q3, probably more in Q4. The timing and impact were included in annual guidance.
"These next tranche of stores that we started this quarter, this past quarter, are impacted anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
OpEx drivers and future trend
Q (Bonnie Herzog · Goldman Sachs): She asked for more color on FQ1 OpEx drivers, how OpEx cadence should trend, and how much of the increase was tied to new stores, labor, credit card fees, or inflation.
A: Steve broke the 8% OpEx change into pieces: about 1 point was same-store employee expense, about 2% was same-store operations (repairs, utilities, insurance), roughly 2% was new units, and credit card fees were about 1.5 to 2 points, with the remainder in technology and supplies. They believe they can grow OpEx at a slower rate and grow EBITDA over the medium and long term, and noted Q2 should look similar to Q1 because of credit card fees with the second half landing near plan.
"About 1 point of that was same store employee expense." — Stephen Bramlage Jr.
Competition and promotions impact
Q (Mark Carden · UBS): He asked if price investments by mass merchants or shifts among c-store competitors have affected inside sales or grocery and general merchandise, and about pricing competition on pizza.
A: They have not seen unusual activity from the c-store competitive set. On pizza, some promotional activity exists among QSRs, but Casey's starting price is much lower; roughly $3 on average below a national brand for a single-topping pizza, and about half their stores have no national brand pizza competitor. That pricing gap widened in Q1, and they saw unit and dollar growth in prepared foods and deli/bakery.
"We are we are close to on average, about $3 for a single topping pizza below what a national brand would be priced at, just line pricing." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
Nicotine alternatives and shelf space
Q (Chuck Cerankosky · Northcoast): He asked about nicotine alternatives (the artificial cigarettes) and whether store merchandising or space allocation needs to change to regain traffic.
A: Nicotine alternatives are starting to replace lost combustible cigarette volume over time, though not yet one-for-one. Casey's reset nicotine backbars earlier to reduce combustible cigarette space and make room for nicotine alternatives, and they made another adjustment this past fiscal year to give even more space. They expect to be a leader in that shifting category.
"And so yeah, that you know, what we have seen over the course of the last couple years is as that secular decline in combustible cigarettes continues, nicotine alternatives is starting to, replace that lost volume." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
Cheese cost coverage
Q (Pooran Sharma · Stephens): He asked how much of their cheese cost is hedged and how many quarters are covered looking forward.
A: They are about 80% covered through early into the first quarter of next fiscal year. For the remainder of this fiscal year (the three remaining quarters), that coverage represents a modest tailwind to margin each quarter.
"We are about 80% covered through early into the first quarter of next fiscal year." — Stephen Bramlage Jr.
Wings performance and rollout
Q (Corey Tarlowe · Jefferies): He asked for an update on chicken wings and for clarity on the Texas M&A strategy.
A: On wings, performance has been strong; wings are in about 850 stores and the next rollout tranche starts later this month, with openings expected in early third quarter. They paused rollouts over the high-demand summer period; about 38% of guests who purchased wings had wings-only orders, and those guests increased their prepared-food purchase frequency by roughly 30%, showing an incremental occasion beyond pizza. Management addressed wings in detail but did not expand on the Texas M&A strategy in this answer.
"1 of the encouraging things is about 38% of guests that have purchased wings have had a wings only order." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
Beer, snacks, cigarettes trends
Q (Kelly Bania · BMO): He asked when the weaker trends in beer, snacks, and cigarettes began, whether it was unit slowdown or trade-downs/pack-size shifts, and if vendors plan promotions.
A: Cigarettes are a long-running secular decline; Casey's sees nicotine alternatives as a favorable offset because their margin is higher. Snacks weakness stems largely from national brand price increases, so Casey's has leaned heavier into private-label offerings. Beer has been weak over the last couple years with some super-premium strength, and they have leaned into liquor and ready-to-drink cocktails (which grew strongly) as an offset.
"Now what we are doing about that is we have leaned heavier into our private label offering." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
Same-store fuel gallons and store impact
Q (Brad Thomas · KeyBanc): He asked why same-store gallons were negative this quarter after several positive quarters, and whether fewer gas sales are reducing inside comps.
A: Same-store gallons were down 30 basis points, but CEFCO remodels accounted for about a 50 basis point drag, so net of that they were likely up modestly and within the annual guidance range. On consumer behavior, they see fewer gallons per trip but more trips, and customers are trading to regular or higher-ethanol blends which carry higher margin, so the overall pattern tends to benefit the business.
"As Steve described, with the CEFCO remodels, that is about a 50 basis point drag on overall gallons." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
Snack weakness and long-term changes
Q (Krisztina Katai · Deutsche Bank): She asked if snack weakness is mostly pricing/value perception or a durable consumer shift (healthier choices or GLP-1 effects), and whether that warrants rethinking store assortments in 2–3 years.
A: They think snack weakness is mainly national brand pricing rather than GLP-1 effects, because private-label snack unit growth is strong. There is some shift toward protein-heavy snacks and merchandising is adding more protein-dense items, but it is still a smaller category and they do not see enough change yet to make dramatic store-layout shifts.
"I just do not see enough of it yet to make any more dramatic shifts at this point." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
Texas opportunity and CEFCO results
Q (Bobby Griffin · Raymond James): He asked whether CEFCO stores, which were higher performing, show larger pizza businesses after remodels and whether that indicates the opportunity for new-to-industry or tuck-in growth in Texas.
A: CEFCO remodel results have been fantastic; these were higher-volume stores and their prepared foods business was the best they have acquired. When Casey's layers its program on those stores they saw lifts (30+% year over year in some cases), proof-of-concept stores continue to comp positively, and new-to-industry stores built in Texas are also performing well, supporting a long runway for growth in the state.
"I do not think there is been anything that is even close to how CEFCO is performing in Prepared Foods prior to acquisition." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
State-level performance differences
Q (Capital 1): He asked whether certain states or regions show stronger or weaker consumer performance across their 19-state footprint.
A: They could not point to any state that clearly stood out; one example was Illinois versus Indiana along the border where Indiana suspended a gas tax and Illinois did not, causing some weakness in Illinois fuel and strength in Indiana as guests play an arbitrage. Broadly, nothing jumps out as a concern, and the company believes its footprint tends to be in lower cost-of-living areas which helps.
"I probably have to look a little closer to try to answer that question." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)
M&A market and unit growth plan
Q (Jacob Aiken-Phillips · Melius): He asked whether the M&A environment has changed and how M&A fits into the plan to add 120 new units by year end.
A: They said the M&A environment remains very good, helped by pressure on small operators; multiples are flat but seller EBITDA has declined so absolute prices can be lower. They plan for roughly half of the 120 new units to come from new-to-industry builds and about half from small-deal M&A, consistent with guidance.
"I would say the M&A environment is, is still really good." — Darren Rebelez (CEO·CHAIR)