Caseys General Stores Inc Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Bonnie Herzog - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : All right, thank you. Good morning, everyone. I had a question on your guidance. You did update your EBITDA guidance for this fiscal year, which is great to see, especially considering, the strong results in the first half, but your guidance does still imply a sequential deceleration in. Eva dog growth in the second half. So just hoping to hear some of the drivers of that. And then, as you mentioned, you lapped the fike's acquisition in November. But is there anything else contributing, I guess, to the implied deceleration in growth? Thank you.

Question: Bonnie Herzog - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay, and then maybe just a quick follow-up just because y's acquisition, it's been a year. Can you just remind us, your M&A strategy, where you're at, and sort of what the market's like right now. Obviously, it's still very fragmented. Just any color there would be helpful in terms of what you're seeing and how actively you're potentially pursuing further M&A. Thanks.

Question: Bobby Griffin - Raymond James - Analyst : Good Morning buddy. Thanks for taking the questions and congrats on a a solid first half. Darren, I just wanted to maybe circle back on the OpEx side and, in particular the same store OpEx, and you guys, as you noted, have done, incredible work on the hours basis, but maybe that's in the later innings. So when we look at like the year-to-date same store OpEx of call it averaging out around high. Thres is that the right level for this business going forward, with the store growth plans and kind of the expansion opportunities you have across Texas and whatnot, or do you still think there are opportunities to maybe push that down to closer to 3 or high 2s on the same store basis?

Question: Bobby Griffin - Raymond James - Analyst : Understand. Very helpful. And then maybe just as my follow-up on a different subject, alternate nicotine, there was some obvious manufacturer promotions during the quarter, but just curious, as you and the team have set out on the new calendar year, what are your expectations from promo activity in that category? Do you continue to expect it to be, growing from a promotional basis or, see higher promo potential going forward?

Question: Chuck Cerankosky - Northcoast Research - Analyst : Good morning everyone. Great quarter. Can you talk about the declining cost of a gallon of gasoline, and your customers' behavior in store? You said earlier that, 3 out of the 4 store visits, don't include gasoline, but is there an interplay, between declining cost of fuel and, say, more prepared. Food store visits and bigger prepared food purchases, and also, how about, The influence of lower gas prices on your in-store promotions. Thank you.

Question: Chuck Cerankosky - Northcoast Research - Analyst : Thank you. Good luck in the second half.

Question: Pooran Sharma - Stephens - Analyst : Good morning and thanks for the question here. Maybe just wanted to, peer more into cheese. Could you maybe update us on how much you have hedge? I think last quarter, you said you were about 70% locked up for the year. Just wondering if there's any update to that. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2025 / 1:30PM, CASY.OQ - Q2 2026 Caseys General Stores Inc Earnings Call

Question: Pooran Sharma - Stephens - Analyst : Great. I appreciate the color there. I guess on my follow-up, maybe just wanted to peer into, to guidance here and understand that, seasonally second half does step down from first half, but just given your commentary earlier on how November is trending fuel margin wise, would it be fair to assume kind of more of a 3Q weighted split for the second half, so like maybe let's say like a 55-45 split in 3 and 4Q just given the favorability in fuel margins you've seen in November.

Question: Benjamin Wood - BMO Capital Markets - Analyst : Good morning guys. This is Ben, on behalf of BMO and [Kellybana]. Thank you for taking our questions. First we just wanted to start with, could you give us an update on what the last 12 month, EBITDA contribution was from CEO and maybe how that came in relative to your internal plan and then following up on kind of Bonnie's question. As we think about the com the composition of new store growth over the next 12 months, is that more NTIs or acquisitions, and then can you just walk us through, how you're thinking about the potential returns more recently on your new industry builds versus your potential acquisitions?

Question: Benjamin Wood - BMO Capital Markets - Analyst : Great, thank you. And then just as a follow-up, could you give us an update on what the latest is thinking around your wing test, and then, as you're thinking about timing a broader roll out, what are you guys looking for at this point? Are you still trying to refine the offering or the labor, or are there calendar events like the Super Bowl or or March Madness that might be a little bit more conducive to a broader launch?

Question: Brad Thomas - KeyBanc Capital Markets - Analyst : Good morning and thanks for taking my question and congrats on a strong quarter here. I wanted to first ask a big picture question about competition. You know this is something that comes up a lot in our conversations with investors about the growth of many of the private convenience stores. It seems like your results are clearly very insulated today, but I was wondering, Darren, if you could talk a little bit more about your confidence level in your insulation from some of that competition.

Question: Brad Thomas - KeyBanc Capital Markets - Analyst : That's helpful. And if I could ask a follow-up on the state of the consumer, this has been an unusual quarter with the government shutdown and an impact on Snap. Curious if there was anything that you've seen in your business from a consumer perspective.

Question: Michael Montani - Evercore Inc - Analyst : Yes, hey, good morning, just wanted to ask if you could unpack a little bit further some color, Darren, on, state of the consumer and the case-shaped economy and, in particular I guess with guide, it seems to imply about 50 bits of DL for the back half of the year even though compares get a bit easier optically into the 4th quarter. And we thought you could have like 20 to 40 bits of tailwind from Sefco stores getting into the comp. So just wanted to understand maybe if you could break out, how the comp progressed over the quarter, a little more color about what you see in November, and then just some high level commentary about that consumer. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2025 / 1:30PM, CASY.OQ - Q2 2026 Caseys General Stores Inc Earnings Call

Question: Michael Montani - Evercore Inc - Analyst : We had just done a deep dive actually on your last point about the share gain potential for prepared meals where you all stood out positively and I was curious if there's anything you could add that helps to bridge us to the chicken wings in terms of LPOs or other innovations down the pipeline.

Question: Michael Montani - Evercore Inc - Analyst : Great. Thank you and good luck. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2025 / 1:30PM, CASY.OQ - Q2 2026 Caseys General Stores Inc Earnings Call