For the three months ending Oct. 31, Casey’s General Stores Inc. on Tuesday reported net income of $206.3 million for its 2026 second quarter, up 14% from the same period last year.
“Casey’s delivered a great second quarter highlighted by strong sales and traffic growth across the entire store,” said Darren Rebelez, chairman, president and CEO of the Ankeny, Iowa-based convenience-store chain.
- Casey’s General Stores Inc. is No. 3 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by store count.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were $410.1 million, up 17.5% from the same period a year ago.
Net income and EBITDA increased compared to the same period a year ago due to higher inside and fuel gross profit, partially offset by higher operating expenses, primarily due to operating 236 additional stores.
As a result of the strong financial performance year to date, Casey’s expects fiscal 2026 EBITDA to increase 15% to 17%.
Inside sales rise 3.3%
Total inside gross profit increased 13.5% to $703.4 million compared with the prior year.
Inside same-store sales increased 3.3% compared with the prior year and 7.5% on a two-year stack basis, with an inside margin of 42.4%.
“Our inside same-store sales continued the strong momentum, as our prepared foods offering and value proposition are resonating with guests, while our team is delivering on the strategic plan,” Rebelez said.
Total inside sales for the quarter were up 13% compared with the prior year. Same-store inside sales were driven by strong performance in the prepared food and dispensed beverage category, including whole pizzas and hot sandwiches as well as non-alcoholic beverages in the grocery and general merchandise category. Inside margin was up about 20 basis points compared with the same quarter a year ago, benefiting from a favorable product mix shift.
For fiscal 2026, Casey’s expects inside same-store sales to increase 3% to 4% and an inside margin of 41% to 42%.
Fuel sales up
For the quarter, total fuel gallons sold increased 16.8% compared with the prior year due to the store count increase as well as the same-store gallons increase. The company’s total fuel gross profit was up 20.9% versus the prior year, with an increase in gallons sold as well as fuel margin.
Same-store fuel gallons were up 0.8% compared with the prior year, with a fuel margin of 41.6 cents per gallon. Total fuel gross profit increased 20.9% to $377.4 million compared with the prior year.
The company sold $7.2 million in renewable fuel credits (RINs) in the quarter, an increase of $2.3 million from the same quarter in the prior year.
“On the fuel side, the team did an outstanding job achieving same-store gallon growth while expanding fuel margin,” Rebelez said. “Overall, the excellent financial results were a combination of strong same-store performance and robust store growth as we are operating nearly 9% more stores than the prior year.”
For fiscal 2026, Casey’s expects same-store fuel gallons sold to be negative 1% to positive 1%.
Operating expenses also rise
Operating expenses increased 16.7% during the second quarter. Operating 236 more stores than the prior year accounted for about 10.5% of the increase. The additional stores were through new construction and acquisitions. Casey's acquired 198 stores when it purchased Fikes Wholesale, owner of CEFCO Convenience Stores, in November 2024. Same-store employee expense contributed to about 2% of the increase, due to increases in labor rates, as same-store labor hours were flat. About 1% of the change is related to an increase in accrued costs for variable incentive compensation due to strong financial performance.
For fiscal 2026, Casey’s expects total operating expenses to increase about 8% to 10%. The company expects to open at least 80 stores in fiscal 2026, through a mix of mergers and acquisitions and new store construction, bringing its three-year strategic plan period total to about 500 stores. Net interest expense is expected to be about $110 million.
Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s has approximately 2,900 convenience stores in 20 states. It is the third-largest c-store retailer and the fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States. In fiscal 2025, Casey’s built or acquired 270 stores, a record for the company. The majority came via Casey’s November 2024 acquisition of 198 CEFCO stores from Fikes Wholesale.
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