Alimentation Couche-Tard reported “improved” performance in its first fiscal quarter 2026, with overall net earnings of $782.5 million, compared with $791.8 million for the same quarter of its previous fiscal year. Despite flat U.S. fuel margins, the company saw positive same-store sales in the U.S. market for the first time in several quarters. It attributed that increase to its food and beverage value offers for consumers watching their spending.
“We are pleased by our improved performance in this first quarter of the new fiscal year,” Alex Miller, president and CEO, said on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday. “Across our network, we are reporting positive same-store sales, which includes our U.S. market for the first time in several quarters. This progress is driven by our focus on providing compelling value and ease, especially in our food and beverage offers, to win our customers who continue to watch their spending.”
He said that the stores’ value meals and food programs are “really resonating” with customers.
And Circle K is hoping to draw in more food customers with a just-announced exclusive collaboration with celebrity chef Guy Fieri, host of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. It will bring 11 of Fieri’s new Flavortown-inspired breakfast, lunch and dinner items to select Circle K and Holiday Stationstores locations, with the first regional launch beginning this September in 10 Northern Tier states.
Meanwhile, in its fuel business, Couche-Tard “had overall good results, especially in Canada and our larger European markets, while in North America, fuel margins remained aligned with previous quarters,” Miller said.
GetGoing
During the quarter, the company closed on the acquisition of GetGo convenience stores.
On June 28, Couche-Tard closed on the acquisition of 270 company-owned and -operated convenience and fuel sites operating under the GetGo Café + Market brand in Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia from supermarket retailer Giant Eagle Inc., Pittsburgh, for $1.6 billion, and it sold 35 sites to Lawrenceville, Georgia-based Majors Management LLC for $158 million to get Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulatory approval.
“We are already working closely with those teams to learn more about GetGo’s popular food and loyalty programs as we start to grow together,” Miller said on the call.
The company built 10 new-to-industry (NTI) convenience stores and rebuilt or relocated three stores, it said, reaching a total of 13 stores since the beginning of fiscal 2026. As of July 20, 2025, it had another 63 stores under construction.
Revenues
“We are encouraged by our first-quarter results, which were partly driven by an enhanced gross profit margin resulting from better food program execution and reduced spoilage,” CFO Filipe Da Silva said on the call. “Combined with our disciplined cost control and a sharp focus on efficiency keeping expense growth below the rate of inflation, we are optimistic about our operational priorities.”
Total merchandise and service revenues for first-quarter fiscal 2026 were $4.7 billion, an increase of $200.7 million compared with the same quarter of fiscal 2025. It attributed the increase to organic growth, the contribution from acquisitions and the net effect of organic changes to its network. Same-store merchandise revenues increased by 0.4% in the United States.
Total road transportation fuel revenues for first-quarter fiscal 2026 were $12.5 billion, a decrease of $1.1 billion compared with the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2025. It attributed the decrease to a lower average road transportation fuel selling price and softness in fuel demand, partly offset by the contribution from acquisitions. Same-store road transportation fuel volumes decreased by 0.9% in the United States.
Gross profit
Gross profit was $3.3 billion for first-quarter fiscal 2026, up by $140.9 million, or 4.4%, compared with the same period in fiscal 2025, mainly attributable to improved fuel market conditions in certain European regions, organic growth in convenience activities in all regions, the contribution from acquisitions, as well as the net impact from organic changes to the company’s network, partly offset by lower road transportation fuel gross profit in the United States.
In first-quarter fiscal 2026, merchandise and service gross profit was $1.7 billion, an increase of $87.3 million compared with the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2025, which Couche-Tard attributed to organic growth in all regions and to the contribution from acquisitions. Merchandise and service gross margin increased by 0.9% in the United States to 34.6%, affected favorably by strong food execution, higher support from vendors on promotional offers and by a change in product mix.
In first-quarter fiscal 2026, road transportation fuel gross profit was $1.6 billion, an increase of $48.2 million compared with the similar quarter of fiscal 2025. The increase was mainly driven by improved road transportation fuel gross margin in Europe and other regions and Canada, the contribution from acquisitions, as well by the net impact from organic changes to the retailer’s network, partly offset by lower road transportation fuel gross margin in the United States, and by softness in fuel demand in both the United States and Europe and other regions.
In the United States, road transportation fuel gross margin was 44 cents per gallon (CPG), a decrease of 4.13 CPG, mainly due to competitive pressure, especially in the company’s southern markets.
- Alimentation Couche-Tard is No. 2 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard operates in 29 countries and territories, with nearly17,300 stores, of which approximately 13,200 offer road transportation fuel. Primarily under the Circle K banner, it is one of the largest convenience-store operators in the United States, as well as in Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltics, Belgium and Ireland. It also has a presence in Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Hong Kong.
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