Caseys General Stores Inc (CASY) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Casey's General Stores Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 Casey's General Stores 2023 財年第二季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給今天的演講者，投資者關係和業務發展高級副總裁 Brian Johnson。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss the results from our second quarter ended October 31, 2022. I'm Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development. With me today are Darren Rebelez, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Steve Bramlage, Chief Financial Officer.

早上好，感謝您加入我們討論我們截至 2022 年 10 月 31 日的第二季度的結果。我是投資者關係和業務發展高級副總裁布賴恩約翰遜。今天和我在一起的是總裁兼首席執行官 Darren Rebelez；首席財務官 Steve Bramlage。

Before we begin, I'll remind you that certain statements made by us during this investor call may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include any statements relating to expectations for future periods, possible or assumed future results of operations, financial conditions, liquidity and related sources or needs, the company's supply chain, business and integration strategies, plans and synergies, growth opportunities and performance at our stores.

在我們開始之前，我會提醒您，我們在本次投資者電話會議期間所做的某些陳述可能構成 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述包括與預期相關的任何陳述未來時期、可能或假設的未來經營業績、財務狀況、流動性和相關來源或需求、公司的供應鏈、業務和整合戰略、計劃和協同效應、增長機會和我們商店的業績。

There are a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the integration of the recent acquisitions, our ability to execute on our strategic plan or to realize benefits from the strategic plan, the impact and duration of the conflict in Ukraine and related governmental actions as well as other risks, uncertainties and factors, which are described in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC and available on our website.

有許多已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素可能導致我們的實際結果與那些前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的任何未來結果存在重大差異，包括但不限於近期收購的整合、我們執行戰略計劃或從戰略計劃中獲益的能力、烏克蘭衝突和相關政府行動的影響和持續時間以及我們最近的年度報告中描述的其他風險、不確定性和因素10-K 表格和 10-Q 表格的季度報告已提交給美國證券交易委員會，可在我們的網站上查閱。

Any forward-looking statements made during this call reflect our current views as of today with respect to future events, and Casey's disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP financial measures referenced in this call, as well as a detailed breakdown of the operating expense increase for the second quarter, can be found on our website at www.caseys.com under the Investor Relations link.

本次電話會議期間作出的任何前瞻性陳述都反映了我們截至今天對未來事件的當前看法，Casey's 不承擔更新或修改前瞻性陳述的任何意圖或義務，無論是由於新信息、未來事件還是其他原因.本次電話會議中引用的非 GAAP 與 GAAP 財務指標的對賬，以及第二季度運營費用增長的詳細細目，可在我們網站 www.caseys.com 的投資者關係鏈接下找到。

With that said, I'd now like to turn the call over to Darren to discuss our second quarter results. Darren?

話雖如此，我現在想把電話轉給達倫來討論我們第二季度的業績。達倫？

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. We'll dive into the strong second quarter results in a moment. But first, I want to thank our team for their commitment to our guests and especially during the holiday season, I'm so grateful for what we've accomplished this quarter and so far this year. This fall, we saw our guests head to Casey's for everything they need from our fast delicious breakfast offering including fresh bean to cup coffee to convenient fill-up or delicious pizza meal occasion.

謝謝，布萊恩，大家早上好。我們稍後將深入探討強勁的第二季度業績。但首先，我要感謝我們的團隊對客人的承諾，尤其是在假期期間，我非常感謝我們在本季度和今年迄今為止所取得的成就。今年秋天，我們看到我們的客人前往 Casey's 尋求他們所需的一切，從我們提供的快速美味早餐（包括新鮮豆子到杯裝咖啡）到方便的填飽肚子或美味的比薩用餐場合。

On the heels of last year's breakfast relaunch, our breakfast offering pulled guests in with the fan favorite or loaded breakfast burrito, as well as our buzzworthy LTO, the ultimate Beer Cheese Breakfast Pizza featuring Busch Light beer cheese sauce. This only at Casey's offerings generated store traffic, online pizza orders and a lot of conversation about Casey's this fall.

繼去年的早餐重新推出之後，我們的早餐供應吸引了客人的注意力，包括粉絲最喜歡的或加載的早餐捲餅，以及我們廣受歡迎的 LTO，終極啤酒芝士早餐披薩，配以 Busch 淡啤酒芝士醬。這僅在 Casey's 的產品中產生了商店流量、在線披薩訂單以及今年秋天關於 Casey's 的大量討論。

In November, we held our annual veterans giving campaign across all our stores to raise funds for organizations to support veterans and their families. As a veteran myself, I know the great sacrifices these families have made and the challenges they face. With the help of our generous guests and partners of PepsiCo, we raised over $1 million to help 2 outstanding organizations, the Children of Fallen Patriots and Hope For The Warriors. These funds will allow the charities to have an even greater impact on the lives of veterans and their loved ones.

11 月，我們在所有商店舉辦了年度退伍軍人捐贈活動，為組織籌集資金，以支持退伍軍人及其家人。作為一名退伍軍人，我知道這些家庭做出的巨大犧牲以及他們面臨的挑戰。在我們慷慨的客人和百事可樂合作夥伴的幫助下，我們籌集了超過 100 萬美元來幫助 2 個傑出的組織，即墮落愛國者之子和勇士希望組織。這些資金將使慈善機構能夠對退伍軍人及其親人的生活產生更大的影響。

Thank you to our vendor partners. Each Casey's team member that made the donation ask in our stores, and especially to our guests who truly do good when they shop at Casey's.

感謝我們的供應商合作夥伴。每位在我們的商店中捐款的 Casey 團隊成員，尤其是向在 Casey 購物時真正做好事的客人。

Now let's discuss the results from the quarter. As you've seen in the press release, we had an excellent second quarter. Diluted EPS finished at $3.67 per share, a 42% increase from the prior year and was a record high for the second quarter. Inside sales remained strong despite the challenging economic environment driving Inside gross profit up almost 9% to $504 million. The company generated $138 million in net income, an increase of 42% and $272 million in EBITDA, an increase of 25% from the prior year. Our differentiated business model is resilient in these challenging economic conditions as we had strong execution of our strategic plan across grocery and general merchandise, prepared food and dispensed beverage and fuel with excellent execution by store operations.

現在讓我們討論本季度的結果。正如您在新聞稿中看到的那樣，我們第二季度表現出色。稀釋每股收益為每股 3.67 美元，比上年增長 42%，創下第二季度的歷史新高。儘管充滿挑戰的經濟環境推動內部毛利增長近 9% 至 5.04 億美元，但內部銷售依然強勁。公司實現淨收入 1.38 億美元，同比增長 42%，EBITDA 為 2.72 億美元，同比增長 25%。我們差異化的商業模式在這些充滿挑戰的經濟條件下具有彈性，因為我們在雜貨和一般商品、預製食品和分配飲料和燃料方面強有力地執行了我們的戰略計劃，並通過商店運營出色地執行。

I would now like to go over our results and share some of the details in each of the categories. Inside same-store sales were up 7.9% from the second quarter or 14.4% on a 2-year stack basis with an average margin of 39.8%. Our team did a tremendous job with our vendor partners managing the product mix, in-stock levels and retail price point adjustments. We saw strong performance in pizza, both slices and whole pies as, well as alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. We were able to partially offset some inside margin pressure in the prepared food and dispensed beverage category through select pricing adjustments and finding the right product mix within the Grocery and General Merchandise category.

我現在想回顧一下我們的結果並分享每個類別的一些細節。內部同店銷售額較第二季度增長 7.9%，按 2 年疊加計算增長 14.4%，平均利潤率為 39.8%。我們的團隊與我們的供應商合作夥伴一起管理產品組合、庫存水平和零售價點調整方面做得非常出色。我們看到比薩餅、切片和整個餡餅以及酒精和非酒精飲料的強勁表現。通過選擇定價調整併在雜貨和一般商品類別中找到合適的產品組合，我們能夠部分抵消預製食品和分配飲料類別的內部利潤壓力。

Same-store Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage sales were up 10.5% or 15% on a 2-year stack basis. With an average margin of 56.7% versus 60.6% a year ago. Sales were up due to strong performance in pizza slices and all pies as well as cold dispensed beverages. We had better product availability in both cups and donuts, which led to improved performance within the bakery and dispensed beverage categories. We had sequential improvement with margin versus first quarter, but ingredient costs, particularly cheese, continued to pressure profit margins.

同店預製食品和調配飲料銷售額在 2 年疊加基礎上增長了 10.5% 或 15%。平均利潤率為 56.7%，而一年前為 60.6%。由於披薩片和所有餡餅以及冷飲的強勁表現，銷售額有所上升。我們在杯子和甜甜圈方面都有更好的產品可用性，從而提高了麵包店和分配飲料類別的性能。與第一季度相比，我們的利潤率有所改善，但原料成本，尤其是奶酪，繼續對利潤率構成壓力。

Same-store Grocery and General Merchandise sales were up 6.9% or 14.2% on a 2-year stack basis with an average margin of 33.3%, which is the same as it was for the year ago period. The second quarter showed excellent results in both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages as we continue to see great results by leveraging our approximately 1,500 stores with a liquor license and growing our private label sales.

同店雜貨和日用商品銷售額在 2 年疊加基礎上增長 6.9% 或 14.2%，平均利潤率為 33.3%，與去年同期持平。第二季度在非酒精飲料和酒精飲料方面都取得了優異的成績，因為我們通過利用我們大約 1,500 家擁有酒牌的商店並增加我們的自有品牌銷售額繼續取得了不錯的成績。

For fuel, same-store gallons sold increased 0.3% with a fuel margin of [40.5 cents] per gallon. Our diesel business had a great quarter with low double-digit volume growth. We saw cost volatility throughout the quarter and the fuel team navigated through it well and continues to appropriately balance profitability and volume as we optimize gross profit dollars. Fuel margin was also positively impacted by the sale of $11.1 million worth of RINs during the quarter.

對於燃料，同店銷售的加侖數增加了 0.3%，燃料利潤率為每加侖 [40.5 美分]。我們的柴油業務有一個很好的季度，銷量增長低至兩位數。我們在整個季度都看到了成本波動，燃料團隊很好地駕馭了它，並在我們優化毛利潤美元的同時繼續適當地平衡盈利能力和數量。燃料利潤率也受到本季度價值 1110 萬美元 RIN 銷售的積極影響。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve to discuss the financial results from the second quarter. Steve?

我現在想把電話轉給史蒂夫，討論第二季度的財務業績。史蒂夫？

Thank you, Darren and good morning. Before I jump into the financials, I would also like to take a minute to acknowledge the team, given the very strong performance throughout the entire business. The company showed great resiliency throughout the quarter in all 3 legs of our business led by store operations performed exceptionally well.

謝謝你，達倫，早上好。在我進入財務之前，我還想花一點時間感謝團隊，因為整個業務的表現都非常強勁。該公司在整個季度都表現出極大的彈性，在我們以商店運營為首的所有 3 個業務部門表現異常出色。

Total revenue for the quarter was $4 billion, an increase of $716 million or 22% from the prior year. Total inside sales for the quarter were $1.3 billion, which is an increase of $129 million or 11% from the prior year. For the quarter, Grocery and General Merchandise sales increased by $88 million to $917 million, an increase of 10.6%. Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage sales rose by $42 million to $351 million, which is an increase of 13.5%. Results were favorably impacted by operating 3% more stores on a year-over-year basis.

本季度總收入為 40 億美元，比上年增加 7.16 億美元或 22%。本季度內部銷售額總額為 13 億美元，比上年增加 1.29 億美元或 11%。本季度，雜貨和日用商品銷售額增長 8800 萬美元，達到 9.17 億美元，增幅為 10.6%。預製食品和調配飲料銷售額增長 4200 萬美元，達到 3.51 億美元，增幅為 13.5%。經營門店同比增長 3% 對業績產生了有利影響。

Our in-stock levels did improve during the quarter versus the prior year, which helped inside sales, especially in Prepared Food. Second quarter retail fuel sales were up $587 million to $2.6 billion due to a 5% increase in gallons sold to $702 million as well as a 22.6% increase in the average retail price per gallon. That average price of fuel during the period was $3.75 a gallon compared to $3.06 a year ago. As a reminder, we define gross profit as revenue less cost of goods sold, but excluding depreciation and amortization.

我們的庫存水平在本季度確實比上一年有所改善，這有助於內部銷售，尤其是預製食品。第二季度零售燃料銷售額增長 5.87 億美元，達到 26 億美元，原因是銷售的加侖數增加 5% 至 7.02 億美元，以及每加侖平均零售價上漲 22.6%。這一時期的平均燃料價格為每加侖 3.75 美元，而一年前為 3.06 美元。提醒一下，我們將毛利定義為收入減去銷售成本，但不包括折舊和攤銷。

Casey's had gross profit of $811 million in the second quarter, an increase of $93 million or 13% from the prior year. This is driven by higher inside gross profit of $41 million or 8.9% as well as an increase of $52.5 million or 22.7% in fuel gross profit. Inside gross profit margin was 39.8%, down 90 basis points from a year ago. The Grocery and General Merchandise margin was 33.3%, which was flat with the prior year. The merchandising team has done a good job given the environment with its ability to offset inflationary pressure via mix management, joint business planning with our partners and retail price point adjustments.

Casey's 第二季度的毛利潤為 8.11 億美元，比上年增長 9300 萬美元或 13%。這是由於內部毛利增加 4100 萬美元或 8.9%，以及燃料毛利增加 5250 萬美元或 22.7%。內部毛利率為39.8%，同比下降90個基點。雜貨和日用商品的利潤率為 33.3%，與上一年持平。鑑於環境有能力通過組合管理、與合作夥伴的聯合業務規劃以及零售價點調整來抵消通脹壓力，銷售團隊做得很好。

Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage margin was 56.7%, and that's down 390 basis points from the prior year. The decreased margin was negatively impacted by commodity costs, specifically cheese, which were $2.24 a pound in the quarter, and that compares to $1.96 per pound last year or a 14% increase. This negatively impacted the PF and DB margin by approximately 90 basis points. The category was also impacted by a LIFO charge, which had an adverse impact of approximately 25 basis points.

預製食品和配製飲料的利潤率為 56.7%，比上年下降 390 個基點。利潤率下降受到大宗商品成本的負面影響，特別是奶酪，本季度為每磅 2.24 美元，而去年為每磅 1.96 美元，增幅為 14%。這對 PF 和 DB 利潤率產生了大約 90 個基點的負面影響。該類別還受到 LIFO 費用的影響，該費用產生了大約 25 個基點的不利影響。

Fuel margin for the quarter was [40.5 cents] per gallon and up [5.8 cents] per gallon from the prior year. Fuel gross profit benefited by $11 million of RIN sales or about [1.5 cents] per gallon.

本季度的燃料利潤為每加侖 [40.5 美分]，比上一年每加侖增加 [5.8 美分]。燃料毛利潤受益於 1100 萬美元的 RIN 銷售額或每加侖約 [1.5 美分]。

Total operating expenses were up 7.7% or $39 million in the second quarter. Approximately 2% of the operating expense increase is due to unit growth as we operated 83 more stores than the prior year period. Same-store credit card fees rose due to higher retail fuel prices and they accounted for about 1% of the operating expense increase in the quarter. Another 1% of the increase was due to a noncash impairment charge and approximately 1% of the increase is also due to internal fuel expense that rose and that's related to our grocery self-distribution business.

第二季度總運營費用增長 7.7% 或 3900 萬美元。大約 2% 的營業費用增長是由於單位增長，因為我們經營的商店比去年同期增加了 83 家。由於零售燃油價格上漲，同店信用卡費用上升，佔本季度營業費用增長的 1% 左右。另外 1% 的增長是由於非現金減值費用，約 1% 的增長也是由於內部燃料費用增加，這與我們的雜貨店自助分銷業務有關。

Increases to same-store employee expenses have been offset by a reduction in store labor hours, specifically in training and overtime. Our store operations team has done outstanding work operating our stores more efficiently without negatively impacting the guest experience, resulting in only a 1.3% growth in same-store operating expense, excluding credit card fees. This is an impressive feat considering the inflationary headwinds that are impacting the business right now.

同店員工費用的增加已被商店工時的減少所抵消，特別是在培訓和加班方面。我們的商店運營團隊在不對顧客體驗造成負面影響的情況下更有效地運營我們的商店，做得非常出色，導致同店運營費用僅增長 1.3%，不包括信用卡費用。考慮到目前影響業務的通貨膨脹逆風，這是一項令人印象深刻的壯舉。

Net interest expense was $13.5 million in the quarter, that's the same as the prior year. And as a reminder, only 17% of our debt is floating rate, which limits our exposure to rising rates. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 23.6%, and that compares to 25% in the prior year. The decrease was driven by a onetime benefit that we recorded due to an income tax reduction in Iowa.

本季度的淨利息支出為 1350 萬美元，與去年同期持平。提醒一下，我們只有 17% 的債務是浮動利率，這限制了我們對利率上升的風險敞口。本季度的有效稅率為 23.6%，而去年同期為 25%。減少的原因是我們因愛荷華州的所得稅減免而記錄的一次性收益。

Net income was up versus the prior year to $137.6 million, an increase of 42%. EBITDA for the quarter was $271.7 million compared to $217 million a year ago. That's an increase of 25%.

淨收入較上年增長 42% 至 1.376 億美元。本季度的 EBITDA 為 2.717 億美元，而一年前為 2.17 億美元。增加了 25%。

Our financial flexibility remains excellent. On October 31, cash and cash equivalents were $415 million, and we have remaining capacity of $469 million on our lines of credit, giving us ample total liquidity of $884 million. Furthermore, we have no significant maturities coming due until fiscal 2026.

我們的財務靈活性仍然出色。 10 月 31 日，現金和現金等價物為 4.15 億美元，我們的信貸額度剩餘容量為 4.69 億美元，為我們提供了 8.84 億美元的充足流動資金。此外，我們在 2026 財年之前沒有重大到期日。

Our leverage ratio calculated in accordance with our senior notes is now 1.9x. That's the same as it was prior to the Bucky's and the Circle K acquisition, and it's generally in line with our preferred long-term target. Our balance sheet still has plenty of capacity to make sound strategic investments as they present themselves.

我們根據優先票據計算的槓桿比率現在為 1.9 倍。這與收購 Bucky's 和 Circle K 之前的情況相同，總體上符合我們首選的長期目標。我們的資產負債表仍然有足夠的能力進行合理的戰略投資。

For the quarter, net cash generated by operating activities of $210 million, less purchases of property and equipment of $95 million resulted in the company generating $115 million in free cash flow compared to $135 million in the prior year.

本季度，經營活動產生的淨現金為 2.1 億美元，減去 9500 萬美元的財產和設備採購，導致公司產生了 1.15 億美元的自由現金流，而去年同期為 1.35 億美元。

At the December meeting, the Board of Directors voted to maintain a dividend at $0.38 per share per quarter. We will continue to remain balanced in our capital allocation going forward, leading into the many EBITDA and ROIC accretive investment opportunities that are in front of us. We will also stay opportunistic related to our $400 million share repurchase authorization, though we didn't repurchase any shares this quarter. Due to the strong year-to-date performance, we are going to modify certain aspects of our fiscal 2023 outlook.

在 12 月的會議上，董事會投票決定維持每季度每股 0.38 美元的股息。我們將繼續在未來的資本配置中保持平衡，從而帶來擺在我們面前的許多 EBITDA 和 ROIC 增值投資機會。我們還將在我們的 4 億美元股票回購授權方面保持機會主義，儘管我們本季度沒有回購任何股票。由於年初至今的強勁表現，我們將修改 2023 財年展望的某些方面。

The company now expects same-store inside sales to be up approximately 5% to 7%, which is an increase from the previous range of up 4% to 6%. Total operating expense increase is expected to be near the low end of the annual range, which is approximately 9% to 10%. And the tax rate is now expected to be between approximately 24% to 25% for the year. The company is not updating its annual outlook for the following metrics: Inside margin is expected to be approximately 40%; the company expects same-store fuel gallons to be flat to up 2%; the company continues to expect to add approximately 80 stores in fiscal 2023 and expects to exceed the stated 3-year commitment we have of 345 new units.

該公司現在預計同店內部銷售額將增長約 5% 至 7%，高於之前 4% 至 6% 的增幅。預計總運營費用增長將接近年度範圍的低端，約為 9% 至 10%。現在預計今年的稅率大約在 24% 到 25% 之間。公司不會更新以下指標的年度展望：內部利潤率預計約為 40%；該公司預計同店燃油加侖數將持平至增長 2%；公司繼續期望在 2023 財年增加約 80 家門店，並預計將超過我們承諾的 3 年新增 345 家門店。

Interest expense is expected to be approximately $55 million. Depreciation and amortization are expected to be approximately $320 million, and the purchase of property, plant and equipment is expected to be between $450 million to $550 million -- or $450 million to $500 million, excuse me, including approximately $135 million in onetime store remodel costs for recently acquired stores.

利息支出預計約為 5500 萬美元。折舊和攤銷預計約為 3.2 億美元，不動產、廠房和設備的採購預計在 4.5 億至 5.5 億美元之間——或 4.5 億至 5 億美元，對不起，包括大約 1.35 億美元的一次性商店改造最近收購的商店的成本。

I would note that capital spending on store openings are back-half weighted of the year versus our initial expectations due to ongoing construction delays and local licensing and inspection challenges. As for our November results and our expectations for the current quarter November inside sales are at the low end of our revised annual guidance.

我要指出的是，由於持續的施工延誤以及當地許可和檢查方面的挑戰，開店的資本支出與我們最初的預期相比是今年下半年的加權。至於我們 11 月的業績和我們對本季度 11 月內部銷售的預期，處於我們修訂後的年度指導的低端。

November same-store fuel gallons are comparable to our second quarter results. November fuel margins remain quite elevated and are closer to our first quarter experience than to our second. Our expectations for third quarter operating expense growth are that they will be at or slightly below the low end of our revised annual guidance.

11 月同店燃油加侖數與我們第二季度的業績相當。 11 月份的燃油利潤率仍然很高，並且更接近我們第一季度的經驗，而不是我們的第二季度。我們對第三季度運營費用增長的預期是，它們將達到或略低於我們修訂後的年度指引的低端。

And finally, cheese costs are currently a similar headwind in percentage terms to the second quarter.

最後，奶酪成本目前的百分比與第二季度類似。

I'll now turn the call back over to Darren.

我現在將電話轉回給 Darren。

All right. Thanks, Steve. I'd like to again say thank you and congratulations to the entire Casey's team for delivering a great quarter. Due to them, we're confident in delivering on our improved fiscal '23 outlook.

好的。謝謝，史蒂夫。我想再次對 Casey 的整個團隊表示感謝並祝賀他們取得了出色的成績。由於他們，我們有信心實現我們改進的 23 財年展望。

During the first half of the year, our merchandising team has done an excellent job driving business inside the store by offering guests value and quality on products, including our private label program, our revamped breakfast and coffee offering and our made-from-scratch pizza. The store operations team continues to execute the store simplification plan and was able to do this while efficiently managing operating expenses, including reducing same-store labor hours by 3%.

在今年上半年，我們的銷售團隊通過為客人提供價值和質量的產品，包括我們的自有品牌計劃、我們改進的早餐和咖啡供應以及我們從頭開始製作的比薩餅，在推動店內業務方面做得非常出色.商店運營團隊繼續執行商店簡化計劃，並能夠在有效管理運營費用的同時做到這一點，包括將同店工時減少 3%。

For Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage margin, we continue to manage our costs prudently while holding a relative value proposition for our guests. We're very pleased with the topline growth in PF and DB thus far.

對於預製食品和配製飲料的利潤率，我們繼續審慎地管理我們的成本，同時為我們的客人持有相對價值主張。到目前為止，我們對 PF 和 DB 的收入增長感到非常滿意。

With respect to store growth, our business development team is evaluating strong deal flow and will remain disciplined with respect to valuations. We're able to leverage our strong balance sheet to achieve this and have unique flex ability to flex our balance sheet if the right opportunity presents itself. This is especially useful in the current macroeconomic environment, where there's still inflationary supply chain and numerous other pressures.

關於門店增長，我們的業務開發團隊正在評估強勁的交易流量，並將在估值方面保持紀律。我們能夠利用我們強大的資產負債表來實現這一目標，並且在合適的機會出現時具有獨特的彈性能力來調整我們的資產負債表。這在當前的宏觀經濟環境中尤其有用，那裡仍然存在通貨膨脹的供應鍊和許多其他壓力。

Pieces has historically been resilient in recessionary times as the business model allows for our guests to find quality and value conveniently. Our fuel team has done an excellent job maximizing fuel gross profit dollars balancing volume and margin. The team has been able to grow gross profit dollars without losing share. The first half of the year has been very volatile for fuel pricing and having a centralized pricing and procurement team has been paramount for the success of the fuel business.

Pieces 在經濟衰退時期一直保持彈性，因為商業模式讓我們的客人能夠方便地找到質量和價值。我們的燃料團隊在最大限度地提高燃料毛利美元平衡量和利潤方面做得非常出色。該團隊已經能夠在不損失市場份額的情況下增加毛利潤。今年上半年的燃料價格波動很大，擁有集中的定價和採購團隊對於燃料業務的成功至關重要。

On the digital side, orders to our mobile app now represents 66% of all digital revenue, which is primarily driven by whole pies. We've added more grocery and general merchandise items to the app as well. As of October 31, we were at 5.8 million rewards members, adding over 400,000 members in the quarter, as our team continues to drive value for our rewards guests. This has resulted in our rewards participation rate, reaching 37.8%, which is a 600 basis point increase from the prior year's second quarter.

在數字方面，我們移動應用程序的訂單現在佔所有數字收入的 66%，這主要是由整個餡餅驅動的。我們還在應用程序中添加了更多雜貨和一般商品。截至 10 月 31 日，我們擁有 580 萬名獎勵會員，本季度新增會員超過 400,000 名，因為我們的團隊繼續為我們的獎勵客人創造價值。這導致我們的獎勵參與率達到 37.8%，比去年第二季度增加了 600 個基點。

As we look ahead to the remainder of fiscal 2023 and beyond, I remain confident in Casey's business model in the face of uncertain times and believe we can thrive in challenging economic environments. We can adjust the guest needs quickly and the strength of our balance sheet will enable us to act quickly when growth opportunities arise. We're halfway through our fiscal 2023, and we are in a great spot to close out both the fiscal year and our 3-year strategic plan. And as we close out the current strategic plan, we're excited to host an Investor Day on June 27th in New York, where we'll be discussing our plans for the next few years. We look forward to sharing with our investors our vision for fiscal '24 and beyond. So please hold that date.

展望 2023 財年剩餘時間及以後，面對不確定時期，我對 Casey 的商業模式仍然充滿信心，並相信我們能夠在充滿挑戰的經濟環境中蓬勃發展。我們可以快速調整客人的需求，而我們資產負債表的實力將使我們能夠在增長機會出現時迅速採取行動。我們的 2023 財年已過半，我們正處於結束本財年和 3 年戰略計劃的好時機。在我們結束當前的戰略計劃時，我們很高興將於 6 月 27 日在紐約舉辦投資者日，我們將在會上討論未來幾年的計劃。我們期待與投資者分享我們對 24 財年及以後的願景。所以請保留那個日期。

We'll now take your questions.

我們現在將回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Anthony Bonadio with Wells Fargo.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Anthony Bonadio 與 Wells Fargo 的對話。

Congrats on the beat. So I just wanted to ask about OpEx for starters. It looks like the revised guidance seems to imply little improvement and maybe even some level of cost acceleration in the back half, especially if I pull out that impairment charge in Q2. Can you just talk about your assumptions there and what might be driving that?

恭喜節拍。所以我只想問一下初學者的 OpEx。看起來修訂後的指引似乎意味著幾乎沒有改善，甚至可能在後半部分加速某種程度的成本，特別是如果我在第二季度取消減值費用。你能談談你在那裡的假設以及可能推動它的因素嗎？

Anthony, this is Steve. I think probably the biggest incremental headwind really the only incremental headwind of note that we would be looking at right now would be incremental investment compensation -- or I'm sorry, incentive compensation for the organization, just given the strong results year-to-date. That's going to be partially offset, if retail prices of fuel continue to trend down. There'd be a little less credit card headwind in OpEx than we had been looking at this time last quarter. But generally, beyond those 2 things, I think most of our operating OpEx assumptions are largely unchanged.

安東尼，這是史蒂夫。我認為可能最大的增量逆風實際上是我們現在要考慮的唯一增量逆風將是增量投資補償——或者我很抱歉，組織的激勵補償，只是考慮到每年的強勁結果——日期。如果燃料零售價格繼續呈下降趨勢，這將被部分抵消。與我們上個季度的這個時候相比，OpEx 中的信用卡逆風要小一些。但總的來說，除了這兩件事之外，我認為我們的大部分運營 OpEx 假設基本沒有變化。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just on unit growth. Obviously, you guys are running quite a bit below the run rate for that 80-store target for the year. Can you just talk about what gives you confidence and your ability to hit that target? And then how are you currently planning organic openings in the back half? And then what does that imply about your expectations around potential deal flow?

好的。這很有幫助。然後就是單位增長。顯然，你們的運營速度比當年 80 家門店的目標要低很多。你能談談是什麼給了你信心和你實現目標的能力嗎？那麼你目前如何計劃後半部分的有機開口？那麼這對您對潛在交易流的期望意味著什麼？

Yes, Anthony, this is Darren. Yes, we're confident in getting to that 80-unit number for the year. We're off to a little bit of a slow start for sure, and a lot of that was just driven on some supply chain and permitting challenges earlier in the year. Most of those have been largely resolved, and we have stores under construction right now. So it's -- so that's about half of the 40 units will be NTIs. And so we have a clear line of sight to getting to that number and probably a little bit above that.

是的，安東尼，這是達倫。是的，我們有信心在今年達到 80 輛。可以肯定的是，我們的起步有點慢，其中很多只是在某些供應鏈上推動的，並在今年早些時候允許挑戰。其中大部分問題已基本解決，我們現在有正在建設中的商店。所以它是 - 所以這 40 個單位中大約有一半將是 NTI。因此，我們對達到這個數字以及可能略高於該數字有著清晰的認識。

On the acquisition side, we've got a number of deals that are under agreement. So we just got to get them to close, and we have confidence that we'll close those. And we have a couple of others that we're in advanced stages of, but we're just not prepared to talk about right now. But given that we should comfortably get to the 80-store number that we have targeted for the year.

在收購方面，我們已經達成了許多協議。所以我們只需要讓他們關閉，我們有信心我們會關閉它們。我們還有其他幾個處於高級階段，但我們現在還不准備談論。但考慮到我們應該輕鬆達到我們今年設定的 80 家門店數量。

Our next question comes from the line of Bonnie Herzog with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自 Bonnie Herzog 與 Goldman Sachs 的對話。

I had a question on the consumer. And I just wanted to hear from you, what behavior changes you might be seeing either during your quarter and then possibly in November. I guess I'm asking or thinking about it in the context of the lower prices at the pump. So curious if there's been any change there. And also then inside your store, any changes with down trading, pack sizes, et cetera.

我有一個關於消費者的問題。我只是想听聽您的意見，您可能會在本季度以及可能在 11 月看到哪些行為變化。我想我是在加油站價格較低的背景下問或考慮的。很好奇那裡是否有任何變化。然後在您的商店內，任何與降價交易、包裝尺寸等有關的變化。

Yes, Bonnie. Just as a reminder, when we look at our guests, we buy for (inaudible) from middle to upper income and lower income. So for our guest base, about 72% of our guests make over $50,000 a year. So we put them in the middle or upper income. And then we have the lower income consumers. I draw that distinction because they're really behaving differently. The middle to upper income consumers are really not changing much of their behavior. We still see them coming frequently and buying the products that they've traditionally bought with some minimal exceptions to that.

是的，邦妮。提醒一下，當我們看客人時，我們購買的是（聽不清）中高收入和低收入。因此，對於我們的客人群，大約 72% 的客人年收入超過 50,000 美元。所以我們把他們放在中等或高收入。然後我們有收入較低的消費者。我之所以做出這種區分，是因為它們的行為確實不同。中高收入消費者的行為並沒有太大改變。我們仍然看到他們經常來購買他們傳統上購買的產品，除了一些極小的例外。

With the lower income consumer, we're seeing a couple of different changes that you kind of alluded to. They're certainly shifting more to private label product and seeking out the value there. We see them trading into more ethanol blended fuels that tend to price at retail cheaper than non-ethanol blended fuels. We're also starting to see some behavior where they're taking different products and using those as meal replacements. So think of a protein shake or enhanced juices as an alternative to a meal. So we'll see some of that.

對於低收入消費者，我們看到了您提到的一些不同的變化。他們肯定更多地轉向自有品牌產品並從中尋找價值。我們看到他們交易更多的乙醇混合燃料，這些燃料的零售價往往比非乙醇混合燃料便宜。我們也開始看到一些行為，他們服用不同的產品並將其用作代餐。因此，可以考慮將蛋白質奶昔或強化果汁作為正餐的替代品。所以我們會看到其中的一些。

The other thing we're seeing with lower income consumers is -- which actually works out as a benefit to us is, there ordering less delivery for pizza. But what they aren't doing is stopping ordering pizza. They're just simply picking it up at the store because it's cheaper than having it delivered. So we're starting to see at that lower end where some guests are trading value for convenience. But overall, we're seeing strong shopper engagement across the board. It's just some different behaviors within each of the categories.

我們在低收入消費者中看到的另一件事是 - 這實際上對我們有利的是，他們訂購的比薩餅更少。但他們沒有做的是停止訂購披薩。他們只是簡單地在商店取貨，因為它比送貨便宜。因此，我們開始在低端看到一些客人為了方便而交易價值。但總的來說，我們看到全面的購物者參與度很高。這只是每個類別中的一些不同行為。

That's helpful. And then just a quick follow-up on that. Is that behavior accelerating in anyway, Darren, just again, thinking in the last month or 2 has it been pretty consistent some of these pressures that you called out?

這很有幫助。然後只是快速跟進。無論如何，這種行為是否在加速，達倫，再次思考，在過去一兩個月裡，你所呼籲的這些壓力中的一些是否非常一致？

Yes. I'd say, in some respects, it's probably accelerating a little bit from first quarter to second. I would say on the fuel side, it's moderated a bit given the fact that retail prices have come down for fuel. So -- but by and large, it's been fairly consistent.

是的。我想說，在某些方面，它可能從第一季度到第二季度有所加速。我想說的是，在燃料方面，考慮到燃料的零售價格已經下降，情況有所緩和。所以——但總的來說，它是相當一致的。

Our next question comes from the line of Ben Bienvenu with Stephens.

我們的下一個問題來自 Ben Bienvenu 與 Stephens 的對話。

I want to ask 2 questions. My first is related to just the relationship between same-store sales and operating expense growth. It's beginning to normalize. You've shown really solid acceleration in same-store sales growth inside the store as your operating expense growth has moderated. And you talked about -- I think, Steve, it was you who mentioned that your same-store hours are down. So I want to talk a little bit about made the productivity you're seeing in the stores and the additional sales you're extracting from lower labor hours? And then to what extent price is factoring into your same-store sales growth that you've seen in each of your -- 2 major merchandise categories?

我想問2個問題。我的第一個問題是同店銷售額與運營費用增長之間的關係。它開始正常化。隨著您的營業費用增長放緩，您在店內的同店銷售增長確實顯示出穩固的加速。你談到 - 我想，史蒂夫，是你提到你的同店營業時間下降了。所以我想談談你在商店裡看到的生產力以及你從更少的工作時間中提取的額外銷售額？然後價格在多大程度上影響了您在每個 - 2 個主要商品類別中看到的同店銷售增長？

Yes, Ben, this is Darren. With respect to the dynamic of sales growth and labor, we began this fiscal year, we made a concerted effort that we want to attack OpEx. And the primary driver of OpEx for us is in our stores. And so we did a couple of things. We focused on store simplification and on turnover or on employee engagement rather, with the goal of reducing turnover. And so what we've done is we've found some ways but through a number of different tactics of just making the job of running our stores a little simpler.

是的，本，這是達倫。關於銷售增長和勞動力的動態，我們從本財年開始，我們齊心協力，我們想要攻擊 OpEx。對我們來說，運營支出的主要驅動因素是我們的商店。所以我們做了幾件事。我們專注於商店簡化和營業額或員工敬業度，以減少營業額為目標。所以我們所做的是，我們找到了一些方法，但通過許多不同的策略，只是讓我們的商店經營工作變得更簡單一些。

And at the same time, focused on some things that employees were telling us that they want to see from us. And so the combination of those 2 things have resulted in really the highest engagement scores that we've ever had as a company among our team members overall and particularly in our stores. And so what that's done is it's reduced our turnover. And so we've seen sequential improvement in turnover every single month this year.

同時，關注員工告訴我們他們希望從我們這裡看到的一些事情。因此，這兩件事的結合確實導致了我們作為一家公司在整個團隊成員中，尤其是在我們的商店中獲得的最高參與度分數。因此，所做的就是減少了我們的營業額。因此，我們看到今年每個月的營業額都在連續改善。

And as a result of that, our over time, hours are down and our training hours are down. So our overtime in the second quarter was down about 22%, and our training hours are down 25%. So we were able to maintain the hours of operating the store and just operating it more effectively and at the same time, pull out what I call those nonproductive hours that we were spending on overtime and on incremental training because we were turning over people so much. So what gives me a lot of comfort is that we've achieved this OpEx results the right way. We haven't impacted the guest experience in a negative way. And so we think it's really sustainable.

結果，隨著時間的推移，我們的工作時間減少了，我們的培訓時間也減少了。所以我們第二季度的加班時間減少了大約 22%，我們的培訓時間減少了 25%。因此，我們能夠維持商店的運營時間，並更有效地運營它，同時，抽出我所說的那些我稱之為非生產時間的時間，這些時間我們花在加班和增量培訓上，因為我們的人員流動太多了.因此，讓我感到非常欣慰的是，我們以正確的方式實現了這一運營支出結果。我們沒有以負面方式影響客人體驗。所以我們認為它真的是可持續的。

Okay. That's great. My second question is related to merchandise margins. So the Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage margins were down quite a bit in the quarter. Steve, you called out, I think you said 90 basis points from cheese and then a 25 basis point LIFO charge. As we look to the balance of the year, given that you maintained your 40% in-store merchandise sales margin, is Grocery going to be leading the charge in terms of margin improvement in the back half? Is Prepared Food going to get better as we move through the balance of the year, if you could deconstruct the composition of the implied improvement in merchandise margins as you move through the rest of this fiscal year?

好的。那太棒了。我的第二個問題與商品利潤有關。因此，預製食品和配製飲料的利潤率在本季度下降了很多。史蒂夫，你大聲疾呼，我想你說的是奶酪 90 個基點，然後是 25 個基點的 LIFO 費用。當我們展望今年的餘額時，鑑於您保持 40% 的店內商品銷售利潤率，雜貨店是否會在下半年的利潤率改善方面領先？如果您可以在本財年的剩餘時間內解構商品利潤率隱含改善的構成，那麼隨著我們度過今年的餘額，預製食品會變得更好嗎？

Yes, Ben. This is Steve. I'll start with that. I expect that we will continue to have sequential improvement in our Prepared Foods margins here as we go through the second half of the year. We are in Prepared Food specifically, we're still looking at low double-digit type of inflationary increases generally in that category, and we're running mid- to high single-digit price increases at the moment. And so we will continue to frequently look to address that gap. We want to preserve our value proposition with guests, and we think that's certainly been a positive to some of the revenue results that we've had in that category.

是的，本。這是史蒂夫。我會從那個開始。我預計，在今年下半年，我們的預製食品利潤率將繼續連續改善。我們特別關注預製食品，我們仍在關注該類別中普遍出現的低兩位數通脹增長，目前我們正在經歷中高個位數的價格上漲。因此，我們將繼續經常尋求解決這一差距。我們希望保持我們對客人的價值主張，我們認為這對我們在該類別中的一些收入結果肯定是積極的。

But we have more work to do just around the price inflation dynamic. Clearly, cheese is going to continue to be a wildcard for us. But we're consciously paying attention to that gap and making sure that we don't chase commodity inflation in a way that negatively impact or confuses our guests, but recognizing that ultimately we will continue to close that gap.

但圍繞價格通脹動態，我們還有更多工作要做。顯然，奶酪將繼續成為我們的通配符。但我們有意識地關注這一差距，並確保我們不會以對客人產生負面影響或混淆的方式追逐商品通脹，但我們認識到最終我們將繼續縮小這一差距。

I would expect on the Grocery side, we will stay fairly consistent. We've -- we will be looking at a variety of calendar year price increases on our normal schedule with a lot of that center of store merchandise come January 1st, and we will be making price adjustments at the same time. We have visibility. A lot of that is contracted. And so I would expect that to be relatively constant, but more work on the Prepared Food side in the second half of the year.

我希望在雜貨店方面，我們將保持相當一致。我們已經 - 我們將按照我們的正常時間表考慮各種日曆年的價格上漲，許多商店商品的中心將於 1 月 1 日到來，我們將同時進行價格調整。我們有知名度。其中很多都是簽約的。因此，我希望這種情況相對穩定，但下半年在預製食品方面會有更多工作。

Our next question comes from the line of Kelly Bania with BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 BMO Capital Markets 的 Kelly Bania。

This is Ben Wood on for Kelly. We wanted to start with the fuel side and look at the dynamic between margins and volumes for fuel. To us, this quarter looked like a little stronger volumes and softer margins, which is kind of the opposite of what we feel other players in the industry are talking about. Did you guys see an opportunity to take gallon share that prompted you to be a little bit more aggressive and have your margins run a little lower, I guess, asked different ways. What do you think the market grew for fuel gallons? And are you gaining share there?

這是凱利的本·伍德。我們想從燃料方面開始，看看燃料的利潤和數量之間的動態。對我們來說，本季度看起來銷量略有增加而利潤率有所下降，這與我們認為該行業其他參與者正在談論的情況正好相反。你們有沒有看到一個機會來獲得加侖份額，這促使你們更加積極進取，讓你們的利潤率下降一點，我猜，問了不同的方式。您認為燃油加侖的市場增長情況如何？你在那裡獲得份額嗎？

Yes. Ben, this is Darren. Our stated goal on fuel is to optimize gross profit dollars. And so that's always going to be a balance between volume and margin. And throughout the quarter, it was a pretty volatile quarter from a cost standpoint. And so we were managing in real time how to stay as competitive as we can given the margin environment that we're playing with. And so we feel really good about the balance that the team struck this quarter.

是的。本，這是達倫。我們在燃料方面的既定目標是優化毛利潤美元。因此，這始終是數量和利潤之間的平衡。在整個季度中，從成本的角度來看，這是一個相當不穩定的季度。因此，我們實時管理如何在我們正在玩的利潤環境下保持盡可能的競爭力。因此，我們對團隊在本季度取得的平衡感到非常滿意。

We were lower than the OPIS benchmark on margin by a couple of cents for what that's worth, but we were also well, well ahead of the volume number. And I think it's important for us anyway in our business model to make sure that we're striking that right balance. So we're not chasing away guests because we have such a robust in-store offer that we want to maintain that traffic. And I think we did a good job of achieving that. And by the way, at a $0.40 margin, which is pretty robust.

我們的利潤率比 OPIS 基準低幾美分，但我們也很好，遠遠領先於數量。而且我認為無論如何在我們的商業模式中確保我們取得正確的平衡對我們來說很重要。因此，我們不會趕走客人，因為我們有如此強大的店內優惠，我們希望保持這種客流量。我認為我們在實現這一目標方面做得很好。順便說一下，以 0.40 美元的利潤率計算，這是非常穩健的。

With respect to market share, given that the Midwest OPIS volume numbers indicated anywhere from 6% to 9% down during the quarter, depending on what month you're looking at and the fact that we were flat, I would have to conclude that we took some share from somebody, just not sure who that was.

關於市場份額，鑑於中西部 OPIS 銷量數字表明本季度下降了 6% 到 9%，具體取決於您查看的月份以及我們持平的事實，我不得不得出結論，我們從某人那裡拿了一些份額，只是不確定那是誰。

Great. And then if I could just follow up on kind of the OpEx discussion. But in particular to the relationship to this quarter to the previous 10% guide, what came in specifically ahead of plan? Was it mostly just those labor improvements? And then if you could -- could you just provide a little more color on the decision not to lower full year OpEx guide in light of the significant beat, is that just conservative? Or is there some visibility on costs that got spread into the second half?

偉大的。然後，如果我可以跟進某種 OpEx 討論。但特別是本季度與之前 10% 指南的關係，具體提前計劃的是什麼？主要是那些勞動力改進嗎？然後，如果可以的話——您能否就不根據重大節拍降低全年運營支出指南的決定提供更多顏色，這是否只是保守的？或者在下半年分攤的成本是否有一些可見性？

Yes. This is Steve. Certainly, when we were looking at OpEx relative to -- I think we had said around 10% was the initial expectation for the quarter. To Darren's earlier commentary, the operating team continues to, frankly, overdeliver on our own expectations and the trading and the overtime dollars are significant, right? Those are expensive hours. And so when we make incremental reductions in those hours, the dollars disproportionately fall through. So I do think we outperformed where we were hoping to land in that respect within the quarter for sure.

是的。這是史蒂夫。當然，當我們查看 OpEx 時，我認為我們曾說過本季度的初始預期約為 10%。對於達倫早些時候的評論，坦率地說，運營團隊繼續超出我們自己的預期，交易和加班費很重要，對吧？那些是昂貴的時間。因此，當我們逐步減少這些時間時，美元就會不成比例地流失。因此，我確實認為我們在本季度內在這方面的表現肯定優於我們希望在這方面著陸的地方。

And then back to the second half of the year. I certainly, I believe that the low end of that range is a number that we can deliver against them. We will do our best to come in below that number. And as I think we said on an earlier question, there is incremental incentive compensation that we do need to absorb coming into the second half of the year just given the company's strong performance. So that will be a little bit of a modest headwind. But I feel very good about our ability to land at the bottom end of that range in a worst-case scenario.

然後回到今年下半年。我當然，我相信該範圍的低端是我們可以針對他們提供的數字。我們將盡最大努力低於該數字。正如我認為我們在之前的一個問題上所說的那樣，鑑於公司的強勁表現，我們確實需要在下半年吸收增量激勵補償。所以這將是一個適度的逆風。但我對我們在最壞情況下落在該範圍底端的能力感到非常滿意。

Our next question comes from the line of Bobby Griffin with Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題來自 Bobby Griffin 和 Raymond James 的台詞。

This is Alessandra Jimenez on for Bobby Griffin. And congratulations on another solid quarter. First, can you maybe talk about the select pricing adjustments in the Prepared Foods business you noted during the prepared remarks? And do you feel comfortable where you are priced today based on the current commodity cost?

這是鮑比格里芬的亞歷山德拉希門尼斯。祝賀另一個穩定的季度。首先，您能否談談您在準備好的評論中提到的預製食品業務的部分定價調整？根據當前的商品成本，您對今天的定價感到滿意嗎？

Yes. This is Darren. With respect to pricing and Prepared Foods, in about the last 14 months, we've taken 4 different price increases. And so we've tried to keep pace to a certain extent with inflation, but we're also trying to balance that with our relative value proposition to our guests. And so when we look at where we're at today, I think we're in a decent spot. That doesn't mean that we won't take more price action, but what it does mean is that we've had very solid performance from those categories from a volume perspective. And again, that's our highest margin category even at current rates. And so the more we sell at a 56% or 57% or 58% margin, the better for Casey's. So we're always cognizant of that, and we're just trying to strike that right balance.

是的。這是達倫。關於定價和預製食品，在過去大約 14 個月中，我們進行了 4 次不同的提價。因此，我們試圖在一定程度上跟上通貨膨脹的步伐，但我們也在努力平衡通貨膨脹與我們對客人的相對價值主張。因此，當我們看看我們今天所處的位置時，我認為我們處於一個不錯的位置。這並不意味著我們不會採取更多的價格行動，但這意味著我們從數量的角度來看，這些類別的表現非常穩固。再說一遍，即使按照目前的利率，這也是我們利潤率最高的類別。因此，我們以 56% 或 57% 或 58% 的利潤率銷售的越多，對 Casey's 就越好。所以我們總是意識到這一點，我們只是試圖取得正確的平衡。

Our consumer insight work tells us that our guests still perceive us as a good value. So we feel like we're striking that right balance for the moment, but we continue to keep an eye on those commodity costs. And when we think those are a little more permanent in nature, then we'll take pricing action to offset that. But right now, it's fairly volatile. And what we don't want to do is, raise prices too much and then have to whipsaw the customer and go backwards. So -- so we feel like we're in an appropriate spot for the moment, and we'll continue to monitor and take pricing action as we think we need to.

我們的消費者洞察工作告訴我們，我們的客人仍然認為我們物有所值。所以我們覺得我們目前正在取得正確的平衡，但我們會繼續關注這些商品成本。當我們認為這些在本質上更持久時，我們將採取定價行動來抵消這一點。但現在，它相當不穩定。而我們不想做的是，價格提高太多，然後不得不鞭打客戶並倒退。所以 - 所以我們覺得我們目前處於合適的位置，我們將繼續監控並採取我們認為需要的定價行動。

That's very helpful. And then one follow-up on an earlier question. Did you see any correlation in acceleration in inside sales and higher volumes -- fuel volumes as still prices moderated or were comps fairly stable and consistent throughout the quarter?

這很有幫助。然後是對先前問題的跟進。您是否看到內部銷售加速和銷量增加有任何相關性——燃油量是因為靜止價格緩和或者整個季度的價格相當穩定和一致？

Our traffic certainly improved from first quarter to second quarter inside the store, and our gallon volume improved over that same period. So there is some -- one of a correlation. I'd be careful to draw too bright line on that one because about 3/4 of our transactions are nonfuel related. So there's about 25% of those guests that come in for fuel and some of those translate into the store. But I would say, by and large, that's a function of -- the inside traffic is a function of what we're offering inside the store more so than it is our price for fuel.

從第一季度到第二季度，我們店內的客流量肯定有所改善，我們的加侖量在同一時期也有所改善。所以有一些 - 一種相關性。我會小心地在那個問題上畫得太亮，因為我們大約 3/4 的交易與燃料無關。因此，大約有 25% 的客人前來加油，其中一些轉化為商店。但我想說，總的來說，這是一個函數——內部流量是我們在商店內提供的東西的函數，而不是我們的燃料價格。

Our next question comes from the line of Chuck Cerankosky with Northcoast Research. .

我們的下一個問題來自 Chuck Cerankosky 與 Northcoast Research 的合作。 .

Great quarter. As the price of fuel trends down, is there any effect on the arithmetic to what the cents per gallon might be?

偉大的季度。隨著燃料價格趨於下降，對每加侖美分的計算是否有任何影響？

You're referring to what the margin might be, Chuck?

你指的是利潤率可能是多少，查克？

Correct. Correct. Darren, does -- say we get to $2.50 a gallon, does that make it harder for the industry to hold around $0.40 CPG?

正確的。正確的。達倫，假設我們達到每加侖 2.50 美元，這是否會使該行業更難保持在 0.40 美元左右的 CPG？

I don't think it's so much a function of the absolute number as much as it is where the trend is going. When wholesale costs are coming down, they typically drop faster than the retail price, that widens out the margins. So whether you're at $4 a gallon retail or $2 a gallon retail, if the wholesale cost is coming down, that margin is going to widen out a bit. Where we'll start to see the flattening out is when the wholesale costs start to flatten out, and that bottoms out. And then we'll land at more of an equilibrium point. And then if it starts to go up again, then we'll see the opposite effect.

我不認為它是絕對數字的函數，而是趨勢的走向。當批發成本下降時，它們的下降速度通常快於零售價格，從而擴大了利潤率。因此，無論零售價是每加侖 4 美元還是零售價 2 美元，如果批發成本下降，利潤率就會有所擴大。我們將開始看到趨於平緩的地方是批發成本開始趨於平緩並觸底反彈的時候。然後我們將降落在更多的平衡點。然後，如果它再次開始上升，我們就會看到相反的效果。

So right now, since really the beginning of October, we've experienced a steadily declining wholesale environment. So you would expect those margins to expand. What I would remind everybody of is that we saw the same thing happen last year. In the month of November last year, wholesale costs dropped $0.40 a gallon. And then over the next 2 months, they rose $0.60 a gallon. So -- we just -- it's a dynamic environment. We just got to keep focused on executing our strategy day to day. But I don't think landing at any certain retail price point is going to make it easier or more difficult to maintain margins?

所以現在，從 10 月初開始，我們經歷了一個穩步下降的批發環境。所以你會期望這些利潤率會擴大。我要提醒大家的是，去年我們看到了同樣的事情。去年 11 月，批發成本每加侖下降 0.40 美元。然後在接下來的兩個月裡，它們每加侖上漲了 0.60 美元。所以 - 我們只是 - 這是一個動態的環境。我們只需要每天專注於執行我們的戰略。但我不認為在任何特定的零售價點著陸會讓維持利潤率變得更容易或更困難？

And then Darren, on the competitive side, with some customers quite sensitive to what's happening to the economy. How do you see that affecting your competitors and willingness to price through ingredient costs?

然後是達倫，在競爭方面，一些客戶對經濟正在發生的事情非常敏感。您如何看待這會影響您的競爭對手以及通過原料成本定價的意願？

Well, I think everybody is playing a different hand right now with respect to that. I would think that the smaller, perhaps less resilient retailers are going to have to price through more of those commodity costs because they've got to survive. We're in a fortunate position where we can be a little more strategic than that and really focus on the consumer value proposition, which is what we're doing. And I think we're striking a good balance of that right now. What I love for our margin rate to be a little bit higher, sure, I would. But I like what our gross profit dollar growth is -- has been and it seems to be outpacing most. And we're getting the volume for it as well. And so I think we're growing some loyalty with our guests, which is more important for the long term.

好吧，我認為現在每個人都在玩不同的手。我認為規模較小、彈性可能較差的零售商將不得不通過更多的商品成本來定價，因為他們必須生存。我們處於一個幸運的位置，我們可以比這更具戰略性，真正專注於消費者價值主張，這就是我們正在做的事情。我認為我們現在正在取得很好的平衡。我喜歡我們的保證金率稍微高一點，當然，我會的。但我喜歡我們的毛利潤美元增長 - 一直而且似乎超過了大多數。我們也得到了它的數量。因此，我認為我們正在提高客人的忠誠度，這從長遠來看更為重要。

Our next question comes from the line of Irene Nattel with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的 Irene Nattel。

Just sort of thinking through some of this discussion around margins versus volumes and whether we're talking about fuel or we're talking about pizza. It sounds as though you're doing really well with these -- with your gross profit dollars at slightly lower but still robust levels of margin. Does that kind of give you pause and make you rethink a little bit some of the margin targets?

只是想通過一些關於利潤率與銷量的討論，以及我們是在談論燃料還是在談論披薩。聽起來你在這些方面做得很好——你的毛利潤略低，但利潤率仍然很高。這會讓你停下來，讓你重新考慮一些利潤率目標嗎？

Are you referring specifically to inside the store, Irene?

艾琳，你是專門指店內的嗎？

Yes. Just sort of if you can get to your gross -- if you can continue to gain share and get your gross profit dollar target with maybe slightly lower margins but higher volumes. Is that the way we should -- is that something that you're thinking through on a go-forward basis?

是的。只是如果你能達到你的毛利——如果你能繼續獲得份額並以可能略低的利潤率但更高的數量獲得你的毛利潤美元目標。這是我們應該採取的方式嗎——這是你在前進的基礎上考慮的事情嗎？

We really haven't specified a margin percentage target. I mean we -- historically, we've been right around that 60% margin range for Prepared Foods and 40% overall. We like to keep that. But -- so we have to be cognizant of the environment we're in right now. And when we're in -- what I would call a hyperinflationary environment, there's obviously going to be pressure, and we're going to have to try to balance the margin rate desires with -- our value proposition to the guests and keeping the volume there.

我們真的沒有指定保證金百分比目標。我的意思是我們——從歷史上看，我們一直在預製食品的 60% 和 40% 的整體利潤率範圍內。我們喜歡保留它。但是——所以我們必須認識到我們現在所處的環境。當我們處於 - 我稱之為惡性通貨膨脹的環境中時，顯然會有壓力，我們將不得不努力平衡保證金率的願望 - 我們對客人的價值主張並保持那裡的音量。

So the gross profit dollars are coming right now. Certainly, when inflation moderates and we get some time to normalize some things, we'd like to see that margin come up closer to more historic levels. But we're not going to force ourselves into a position where we're managing to a rate that might be artificial and ultimately negatively impact the guest experience.

所以毛利美元現在就要來了。當然，當通貨膨脹放緩並且我們有時間使某些事情正常化時，我們希望看到利潤率接近歷史水平。但我們不會強迫自己處於這樣一個境地，即我們正在管理一個可能是人為的並最終對客人體驗產生負面影響的利率。

Understood. And then just switching gears for a moment to M&A. You mentioned that you're certainly having a lot of very interesting discussions. Can you talk a little bit about sort of the tone of the discussions and any changes in expectation around valuation?

明白了。然後只是暫時切換到併購。你提到你們肯定有很多非常有趣的討論。你能談談討論的基調以及估值預期的任何變化嗎？

Yes, I don't want to get too deep into any conversations we're having specifically that what I would say is that we've seen a real acceleration in the number of sellers that are out there right now. And so we're in varying discussions with each of them. And a lot of those valuation type discussions really depend on the situation the sellers in right now in the competitive landscape from a buyer side.

是的，我不想太深入地討論我們正在進行的任何對話，我想說的是，我們已經看到現在的賣家數量確實在加速增長。因此，我們正在與他們每個人進行不同的討論。許多估值類型的討論實際上取決於賣方目前在買方競爭格局中所處的情況。

Certainly, I would expect rising interest rates to have an impact on valuations at some point. It just depends on who those buyers are and what their access to capital is and the strength of their balance sheet today in given time. But that's my expectation here in the foreseeable future with interest rates where they are, I would anticipate valuations start to creep down.

當然，我預計利率上升會在某個時候對估值產生影響。這只取決於這些買家是誰，他們獲得資本的途徑是什麼，以及他們今天在給定時間內的資產負債表實力。但這是我的預期，在可預見的未來，利率保持不變，我預計估值將開始下滑。

Our next question comes from the line of John Royall with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 John Royall。

So just a broad one on capital (inaudible). You guys have built cash over the past 2 quarters. You have $415 million of cash right now on your balance sheet, at least as far back as my model goes, I think that's a record. Steve mentioned, I think, $800 million in liquidity and the balance sheet is in great shape. So any thought on acting on your buyback authorization here? Or really, is it more about kind of keeping some dry powder around given your commentary on acquisitions?

所以只是關於資本的一個廣泛的（聽不清）。你們在過去兩個季度積累了現金。你的資產負債表上現在有 4.15 億美元的現金，至少就我的模型而言，我認為這是一個記錄。我認為史蒂夫提到了 8 億美元的流動資金，資產負債表狀況良好。那麼有沒有想過在這裡根據您的回購授權行事？或者真的，考慮到你對收購的評論，它更多的是關於保留一些幹火藥嗎？

Yes. Well, I think it's all of those, John. We're always talking about what's the right way for us to deploy the capital. Certainly, I think the cash number is a record as well. We think so that we're fortunate to be in that position at the moment. But there's no doubt in the very near term, it's largely driven by just the timing of our capital spending and the PP&E that we've guided to, right? We've had a light first half of the year for the reasons Darren mentioned before. And so we will spend a disproportionate amount of that PP&E guide here in the second half of the year. So I do think there'll be a draw on the cash balance seasonally.

是的。好吧，我想就是這些了，約翰。我們一直在討論什麼是我們部署資本的正確方式。當然，我認為現金數量也是一個記錄。我們這麼認為，我們很幸運能在此刻處於那個位置。但毫無疑問，在短期內，這主要是由我們的資本支出時間和我們指導的 PP&E 驅動的，對吧？由於 Darren 之前提到的原因，我們上半年表現不佳。因此，我們將在今年下半年在這里花費不成比例的 PP&E 指南。所以我確實認為現金餘額會季節性減少。

The third quarter is usually our lowest cash flow generation quarter anyway just because of the winter in our geography. So a lot of that is already earmarked for second half capital spending, but we are certainly conscientious of the fact that the company's profitability remains very strong. And at some point, it doesn't make sense for us to obviously just sit on a very large cash balance. And so we're going to continue to look at the repurchase opportunity that's out there. But just going back to our broader capital allocation, right? And anything that we can invest in that we feel confident is going to drive EBITDA or ROIC accretion is where we would go first.

無論如何，第三季度通常是我們產生現金流量最低的季度，只是因為我們所在地區的冬天。因此，其中很多已經指定用於下半年的資本支出，但我們當然意識到公司的盈利能力仍然非常強勁。在某些時候，我們顯然只是坐在一個非常大的現金餘額上是沒有意義的。因此，我們將繼續關注現有的回購機會。但是回到我們更廣泛的資本配置，對吧？我們可以投資的任何我們有信心推動 EBITDA 或 ROIC 增長的東西都是我們首先要做的。

I like our leverage position. So we may nip and tuck a little bit on the debt side, but I don't think we would make a big move there. Necessarily, we will tend the dividend. And obviously, eventually, then we would get to share repurchase. But second half of the year will be a heavier CapEx number for us. And so that's really the primary factor in our thinking of what we do as the cash balance we have right now.

我喜歡我們的槓杆位置。因此，我們可能會在債務方面有所縮減，但我認為我們不會在這方面採取重大舉措。必然地，我們將傾向於紅利。顯然，最終，我們將進行股票回購。但今年下半年對我們來說將是一個更重的資本支出數字。因此，這確實是我們考慮我們現在擁有的現金餘額時所做的事情的主要因素。

Okay. Great. That's really helpful. And then maybe just another quick one. Just hoping for an update on your private label business. Unless I missed it, I don't think you mentioned yet this morning and just how that's trending? And specifically wondering if there has been a significant market share pickup due to consumers switching on inflation and if that can be quantified in any way?

好的。偉大的。這真的很有幫助。然後也許只是另一個快速的。只是希望了解您自有品牌業務的最新情況。除非我錯過了，否則我認為你今天早上還沒有提到它的趨勢如何？並且特別想知道是否由於消費者轉向通貨膨脹而導致市場份額顯著增加，是否可以以任何方式量化？

Yes, John. We have seen sequential growth in our private label. So kind of being consistent with how we've talked about before, we exited second quarter at 5.4% mix of private brands. I think that was 5.1% in the first quarter. But that number, the way we've been talking about is always going to be impacted negatively by tobacco and alcohol to a certain extent because we're getting those consistent quarterly cost increases in tobacco. And so we pass those on to consumer. So tobacco start -- mix starts to have an impact on our ability to grow the private label mix.

是的，約翰。我們已經看到自有品牌的連續增長。因此，與我們之前討論的方式一致，我們以 5.4% 的自有品牌組合退出第二季度。我認為第一季度是 5.1%。但是這個數字，我們一直在談論的方式總是會在一定程度上受到煙草和酒精的負面影響，因為我們得到了煙草的那些持續的季度成本增長。所以我們將這些傳遞給消費者。所以煙草開始 - 混合開始對我們發展自有品牌組合的能力產生影響。

By carve tobacco and alcohol out of that because we don't have any private label products in either of those categories. I just focus on the rest of the store where we have products. We're at a 12% mix on sales -- I'm sorry, 10% mix on sales, 12% on units and 13% on gross profit dollars. So we are seeing the private brand portfolio have a meaningful impact on the categories it participates in, and we're still growing. We have another 38 items we'll be rolling out between now and the end of the year and certainly more in the pipeline for next year.

通過將煙草和酒精從中剔除，因為我們在這兩個類別中都沒有任何自有品牌產品。我只關注我們有產品的商店的其餘部分。我們的銷售混合比例為 12%——對不起，銷售混合比例為 10%，銷量為 12%，毛利潤為 13%。因此，我們看到自有品牌組合對其參與的類別產生了有意義的影響，而且我們仍在增長。從現在到今年年底，我們將推出另外 38 項產品，明年肯定還會推出更多產品。

Our next question comes from the line of Krisztina Katai with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Krisztina Katai。

Congrats on a nice quarter. Can you make some comments on the value that you bring in your various dayparts relative to QSR competition. Can you just talk about the price differential of your offering in light of inflation that is still running high. And it sounds like your peers are mostly passing through these costs. So is that providing an opportunity for Casey to widen the gap as inflation eventually starts to moderate and you can gain more share?

祝賀一個不錯的季度。您能否就 QSR 比賽中不同時段帶來的價值發表一些評論？鑑於通貨膨脹率仍然居高不下，你能談談你們產品的價格差異嗎？聽起來您的同行大部分都在承擔這些成本。那麼，這是否為 Casey 提供了一個擴大差距的機會，因為通脹最終開始放緩，您可以獲得更多份額？

Yes, Krisztina, in the breakfast daypart, we've really tried to balance a couple of things. We've leaned both on value and on innovation. And so if you look at this past quarter, we had the Busch Light beer cheese, breakfast pizza, which was a great innovation. We saw tremendous momentum in our breakfast pizza sales as a result of that.

是的，Krisztina，在早餐時段，我們真的試圖平衡幾件事。我們既依賴於價值，也依賴於創新。因此，如果你看看上個季度，我們有 Busch 淡啤酒奶酪、早餐披薩，這是一項偉大的創新。因此，我們看到了早餐披薩銷售的巨大增長勢頭。

We also lean into our Ultimate Breakfast Merito, which has been a real popular one with our guests. And so pushing that on the innovation side, but we also had a $4 value offer for the more price-conscious consumers. So I think we were able to balance those between value and innovation.

我們還傾心於我們的 Ultimate Breakfast Merito，它在我們的客人中非常受歡迎。因此在創新方面推動這一點，但我們也為更注重價格的消費者提供了 4 美元的超值優惠。所以我認為我們能夠在價值和創新之間取得平衡。

And on the value side, a $4 meal deal is a really good value relative to QSR in the space. And so we had really strong results in breakfast, about 10% growth in the breakfast daypart versus prior year, and that was cycling over 10% from the prior year. So with the breakfast launch last year. So really strong value proposition. We're seeing that momentum in the breakfast daypart.

在價值方面，4 美元的餐食交易相對於該領域的 QSR 來說是一個非常好的價值。因此，我們在早餐方面取得了非常強勁的成果，與前一年相比，早餐時段增長了約 10%，而且比前一年循環了 10% 以上。所以隨著去年早餐的推出。非常強大的價值主張。我們在早餐時段看到了這種勢頭。

That's great. And then I just wanted to follow up on the private label discussion. Are national brands starting to notice some of these unit losses as you gain some brand and volume share? And is that perhaps driving a different conversation where they are starting to offer some concessions to bring down their prices where it's not really happening yet?

那太棒了。然後我只想跟進私人標籤的討論。當您獲得一些品牌和銷量份額時，民族品牌是否開始注意到其中一些單位損失？這是否可能會引發一場不同的對話，他們開始提供一些讓步以降低尚未真正發生的價格？

Well, that's an ongoing discussion we have with our supplier partners. And that's one of the things that we engage in during our joint business planning is, talking about the breadth and depth of the assortment and the cost of goods and how we balance all of those things. And so there's a discussion about space, there's a discussion about cost of goods. There's a discussion about promotional activity, and we pull all of those things together.

好吧，這是我們與供應商合作夥伴正在進行的討論。這是我們在聯合業務規劃中參與的事情之一，就是討論產品種類的廣度和深度、商品成本以及我們如何平衡所有這些事情。所以有關於空間的討論，有關於商品成本的討論。有一個關於促銷活動的討論，我們把所有這些東西放在一起。

So certainly, having alternative products that can offer an incremental value to the guest is important to us. And so the -- our national branded suppliers want to stay in a relative range. So yes, we definitely engage in those discussions and we're in the process of that right now.

因此，當然，擁有可以為客人提供增量價值的替代產品對我們來說很重要。因此 - 我們的國家品牌供應商希望保持在相對范圍內。所以是的，我們肯定參與了這些討論，我們現在正在進行中。

Our next question comes from the line of John Lawrence with Benchmark.

我們的下一個問題來自 Benchmark 的 John Lawrence。

Could you comment just a second. You mentioned construction being delayed. Does this have any real impact on trying to get the remodel stores, adding the kitchens to the acquisitions? Does that push that out a little bit?

你能評論一下嗎？你提到建設被推遲。這對嘗試改造商店、將廚房添加到收購中是否有任何實際影響？這會把它推出一點嗎？

John, that the construction delays haven't been so much on the remodel activity from a construction or a supply chain standpoint, that's been more driven by permitting, it takes time depending on the municipality to get through the permitting process on those remodels.

約翰，從建築或供應鏈的角度來看，改造活動的施工延誤並沒有那麼多，更多的是由許可驅動的，這需要時間取決於市政當局完成這些改造的許可程序。

Great. And second one for me. Just -- can you talk about anything innovation-wise that's -- I know you don't want to say too much competitively, but things being worked on in prepared food innovation-wise.

偉大的。第二個給我。只是 - 你能談談任何創新方面的事情嗎 - 我知道你不想說太多競爭性的話，但是在準備好的食品創新方面正在做的事情。

You're right, John. I don't want to talk in too much detail about that. I'll tell you that our culinary team is hard at work, and we've got some nice innovation lined up for the first half of the calendar year, but that's about all I'm going to say about that one.

你是對的，約翰。我不想談論太多細節。我會告訴你，我們的烹飪團隊正在努力工作，我們已經為日曆年的上半年準備了一些不錯的創新，但這就是我要說的。

Thank you. And I'm currently showing no further questions at this time. I'd like to hand the call back over to Darren Rebelez for closing remarks.

謝謝你。我目前沒有進一步提問。我想將電話轉回 Darren Rebelez 以作結束語。

All right. Thank you for taking the time today and joining us on the call. We've had a great first half to the fiscal year and are excited to continue that momentum into the second half. And with the holiday season approaching, we wish everyone a warm and safe holiday season, especially our team members who continue to serve our guests and our communities every day.

好的。感謝您今天抽出時間加入我們的電話會議。我們在本財年的上半年表現出色，很高興能將這種勢頭延續到下半年。隨著假期的臨近，我們希望每個人都能度過一個溫暖安全的假期，尤其是我們的團隊成員，他們每天繼續為我們的客人和我們的社區服務。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。