Caseys General Stores Inc (CASY) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Q1 Fiscal Year 2024 Casey's General Stores Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. And I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mr. Brian Johnson. Sir, please go ahead.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 2024 年第一季度凱西雜貨店收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）。請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在我想將會議交給今天的發言者布萊恩·約翰遜先生。先生，請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss the results for our first quarter ended July 31, 2023. I am Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development.

早上好，感謝您與我們一起討論截至 2023 年 7 月 31 日的第一季度業績。我是布萊恩·約翰遜，投資者關係和業務開發高級副總裁。

With me today are Darren Rebelez, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; as well as Steve Bramlage, Chief Financial Officer. 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.

今天與我在一起的有董事長、總裁兼首席執行官 Darren Rebelez；以及首席財務官 Steve Bramlage。在我們開始之前，我要提醒您，我們在本次投資者電話會議中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。

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. 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.

這些前瞻性陳述包括與未來時期的預期、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表現。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這些前瞻性陳述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實現收益的能力、烏克蘭衝突的影響和持續時間以及相關政府行為以及其他風險，不確定性和因素，這些信息在我們向SEC提交並可在我們網站上查閱的最新10-K 表格年度報告和10-Q 表格季度報告中進行了描述。

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 quarter can be found on our website at www.caseys.com under the Investor Relations link.

本次電話會議期間做出的任何前瞻性陳述均反映了我們截至今天對未來事件的當前看法，凱西不承擔任何更新或修改前瞻性陳述的意圖或義務，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 財務指標的調節表以及本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 would now like to turn the call over to Darren to discuss our first quarter results. Darren?

話雖如此，我現在想將電話轉給達倫，討論我們第一季度的業績。達倫？

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. We'll get to the excellent first quarter results in a moment. First, I want to thank our team for their dedication and to getting the fiscal year off to a great start. As our guests and communities shifted into back-to-school season, Casey's held its annual cash for classrooms giving campaign in August. Thanks to our generous guests and passionate team members, we raised over $700,000. These funds will support needs and projects for schools, students and teachers in our local communities. The grant application process opens in October and we encourage schools, teachers and parent-led organizations to apply.

謝謝布萊恩，大家早上好。我們很快就會看到第一季度的出色業績。首先，我要感謝我們的團隊的奉獻精神以及讓本財年有一個良好的開端。隨著我們的客人和社區進入返校季，凱西在八月份舉辦了年度為教室捐贈現金活動。感謝我們慷慨的客人和熱情的團隊成員，我們籌集了超過 700,000 美元。這些資金將支持當地社區的學校、學生和教師的需求和項目。補助金申請流程將於 10 月開放，我們鼓勵學校、教師和家長主導的組織進行申請。

Now let's discuss the results from the quarter. Diluted EPS finished at $4.52 per share, an 11% increase from the prior year. Inside Sales remained strong, driving inside gross profit dollars up over 10% to $556 million. The company generated $169 million in net income, an increase of 11% and $316 million in EBITDA, an increase of 8% from the prior year. As you may have seen in our Investor Day presentation, we launched the Thin Crust Pizza offering in the first quarter. This addition to the lineup has been a great success and demonstrates the blueprint for innovation at Casey's.

現在讓我們討論本季度的結果。稀釋後每股收益最終為每股 4.52 美元，較上年增長 11%。內部銷售依然強勁，推動內部毛利潤增長 10% 以上，達到 5.56 億美元。公司淨利潤為 1.69 億美元，同比增長 11%；EBITDA 為 3.16 億美元，同比增長 8%。正如您可能在我們的投資者日演示中看到的那樣，我們在第一季度推出了薄皮披薩產品。該產品系列的新增產品取得了巨大成功，展示了 Casey's 的創新藍圖。

Our Guests Insights team identified a gap in our menu, our culinary team created a delicious product, our marketing team worked with our advertising partner to create a great marketing campaign and ultimately, our operations team brought to life in our stores and communities across our footprint. And I think the results speak for themselves. This type of strategic innovation and teamwork is something that will help us achieve our goals for the 3-year strategic plan.

我們的賓客洞察團隊發現了菜單中的空白，我們的烹飪團隊創造了美味的產品，我們的營銷團隊與廣告合作夥伴合作開展了出色的營銷活動，最終，我們的運營團隊在我們的門店和社區中註入了活力。我認為結果不言自明。這種戰略創新和團隊合作將幫助我們實現三年戰略計劃的目標。

On the fuel side of the business, we continued to strike an appropriate balance between volume and margin. However, one notable difference with this quarter's performance is there were no significant macro events that influenced margin. It was a relatively benign quarter from a wholesale cost perspective, and we believe this is a strong indicator that higher industry fuel margins are here to stay.

燃料業務方面，我們繼續在銷量和利潤之間取得適當的平衡。然而，與本季度業績的一個顯著差異是，沒有影響利潤率的重大宏觀事件。從批發成本的角度來看，這是一個相對溫和的季度，我們相信這是一個強有力的指標，表明行業燃料利潤率將繼續保持較高水平。

Overall, I think this quarter truly illustrates the strength of the unique Casey's business model, particularly in a more normal times, and shows our 3-year strategic plan objectives are very achievable. The team continues to do an excellent job operating the business efficiently and effectively, both inside and outside the store.

總的來說，我認為這個季度真正說明了凱西獨特的商業模式的優勢，特別是在更正常的時期，並表明我們的三年戰略計劃目標是非常可以實現的。該團隊繼續出色地工作，在店內和店外高效、有效地運營業務。

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 5.4% for the first quarter or 12.1% on a 2-year stack basis, with an average margin of 40.6%. We saw notably strong performance in whole pizza pies and Bakery as well as alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. Our team with support from our supplier partners continues to find the right product mix and promotional activity to drive sales and profitable results.

現在我想回顧一下我們的結果並分享每個類別的一些細節。第一季度同店內部銷售額增長 5.4%，按兩年計算增長 12.1%，平均利潤率為 40.6%。我們看到整個披薩餅和麵包以及酒精和非酒精飲料的表現尤為強勁。我們的團隊在供應商合作夥伴的支持下，不斷尋找合適的產品組合和促銷活動，以推動銷售和盈利結果。

Same-store prepared food and dispensed beverage sales were up 5.9% or 14.8% on a 2-year stack basis with an average margin of 58.2%, up approximately 260 basis points from the prior year.

同店預製食品和分配飲料銷售額按兩年計算增長 5.9% 或 14.8%，平均利潤率為 58.2%，比上年增長約 260 個基點。

The previously mentioned innovation with Thin Crust Pizza helped drive sales as we saw great results with our whole pizza pies in addition to strong performance in Bakery. Margin was favorably impacted by softening in commodities, notably cheese during the quarter. Same-store grocery and General Merchandise sales were up 5.2% and or 11% on a 2-year stack basis with an average margin of 34.1%, an increase of approximately 20 basis points from the prior year. We continued our strong momentum in beverages, with non-alcoholic beverages, specifically energy drinks, showing fantastic results. Alcoholic beverages also performed quite well, as we continue to leverage our competitive advantage of approximately 1,500 stores with liquor licenses.

前面提到的薄皮披薩創新有助於推動銷售，因為除了麵包店的強勁表現外，我們的整個披薩派也取得了巨大的成果。本季度大宗商品（尤其是奶酪）疲軟對利潤率產生了有利影響。同店雜貨和日用百貨銷售額按 2 年疊加計算分別增長 5.2% 和 11%，平均利潤率為 34.1%，比上年增長約 20 個基點。我們繼續在飲料領域保持強勁勢頭，非酒精飲料，特別是能量飲料，取得了令人矚目的業績。酒精飲料也表現出色，我們繼續利用約 1,500 家擁有酒類許可證的商店的競爭優勢。

For fuel, same-store gallons sold increased 0.4% with a fuel margin of 41.6 cents per gallon. Our fuel team is striking the right balance between margin and gallon volume, and the results speak for themselves. This quarter marks the 9th quarter in a row with fuel margins above 34.5 cents per gallon, and 4 of the last 5 quarters have been over 40 cents per gallon.

燃油方面，同店加侖銷量增長 0.4%，燃油利潤為每加侖 41.6 美分。我們的燃料團隊正在利潤和加侖體積之間取得適當的平衡，結果不言而喻。本季度是燃油利潤率連續第 9 個季度超過每加侖 34.5 美分，過去 5 個季度中有 4 個季度超過每加侖 40 美分。

I would now like to turn the call over to Steve to discuss the financial results from the first quarter. Steve?

我現在想將電話轉給史蒂夫，討論第一季度的財務業績。史蒂夫？

Thank you, Darren, and good morning. Each of the three areas of our business performed well in the quarter, and that's a testament to our business model and the execution of our teams. Total revenue for the quarter was $3.8 billion, a decrease of $585 million or 13% from the prior year due to the lower retail price of fuel. Total inside sales for the quarter were $1.4 billion, an increase of $103 million or 8% from the prior year. For the quarter, grocery and general merchandise sales increased by $74 million to $997 million, an increase of 8%. Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage sales rose by $29 million to $373 million, an increase of 8.5%.

謝謝你，達倫，早上好。我們業務的三個領域在本季度都表現良好，這證明了我們的業務模式和團隊的執行力。由於燃料零售價格下降，該季度總收入為 38 億美元，比上年減少 5.85 億美元，即 13%。該季度內部銷售總額為 14 億美元，比上年增加 1.03 億美元，即 8%。本季度雜貨和百貨銷售額增加了 7400 萬美元，達到 9.97 億美元，增幅為 8%。預製食品和配製飲料銷售額增加 2,900 萬美元，達到 3.73 億美元，增幅 8.5%。

Results were also favorably impacted by operating approximately 3% more stores on a year-over-year basis. Retail fuel sales were down $669 million in the first quarter due to a 24% decrease in the average retail price per gallon, that was partially offset by a 3.6% increase in gallons sold to $714 million. The average retail price of fuel during this period was $3.40 a gallon compared to $4.49 a year ago. As a reminder, we define gross profit as revenue less cost of goods sold, but excluding depreciation and amortization.

門店運營量同比增加約 3%，也對業績產生了積極影響。第一季度零售燃料銷售額下降了 6.69 億美元，原因是每加侖平均零售價下降了 24%，但加侖銷量增長 3.6% 至 7.14 億美元部分抵消了這一下降。在此期間，燃油平均零售價為每加侖 3.40 美元，而一年前為每加侖 4.49 美元。提醒一下，我們將毛利潤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 $878 million in the first quarter, an increase of $42 million or 5% from the prior year. This is driven by higher inside gross profit of $52.2 million or 10.3%, partially offset by a decrease of $11.2 million or 3.6% in fuel gross profit. Inside gross profit margin was 40.6%, up 80 basis points from a year ago. The Grocery and General Merchandise margin was 34.1%, that's an increase of 20 basis points from the prior year. Slight increase was due to a favorable mix shift with further penetration of private label products, a lower LIFO charge than in the prior year and favorable vendor funding.

Casey's第一季度毛利潤為8.78億美元，比上年增加4200萬美元，增幅5%。這是由於內部毛利潤增加至 5,220 萬美元或 10.3%，但部分被燃料毛利潤減少 1,120 萬美元或 3.6% 所抵消。內部毛利率為40.6%，同比增長80個基點。雜貨和百貨商品利潤率為 34.1%，比上年增加 20 個基點。略有增長是由於自有品牌產品的進一步滲透帶來的有利的組合轉變、比上一年更低的後進先出費用以及有利的供應商資金。

Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverage margin was 58.2%. That's up 260 basis points from prior year. The category margin benefited from lower commodity costs, specifically cheese which was $2.04 per pound for the quarter. That compared to $2.49 per pound last year, a decrease of 18%. This positively impacted PF&DB margin by approximately 130 basis points. Margin also benefited from a lower LIFO charge than the prior year as our input costs softened which had an approximate 120 basis point impact.

預製食品和配製飲料的利潤率為 58.2%。這比去年增加了 260 個基點。品類利潤受益於商品成本下降，特別是奶酪，本季度每磅為 2.04 美元。與去年每磅 2.49 美元相比，下降了 18%。這對 PF&DB 利潤率產生了約 130 個基點的積極影響。由於我們的投入成本軟化，產生了約 120 個基點的影響，因此利潤率也受益於比上一年更低的 LIFO 費用。

We are in the midst of adjusting certain benefits associated with our Casey's Rewards platform, and during the quarter, these onetime changes positively impacted PF&DB sales and margin by approximately $4.9 million. However, because we were concomitantly running a summer-long promotional campaign of $0.89 fountain drinks, we did not see much of a net benefit from the program change. Fuel margin for the quarter was 41.6 cents per gallon, down 3.1 cents per gallon from the all-time high prior year's quarterly CPG. Fuel gross profit benefited by $20.2 million from the sale of RINs and that's up $2.5 million from the same quarter in the prior year.

我們正在調整與 Casey's Rewards 平台相關的某些福利，在本季度，這些一次性變化對 PF&DB 銷售額和利潤產生了約 490 萬美元的積極影響。然而，由於我們同時進行了一場為期整個夏季的 0.89 美元噴泉飲料促銷活動，因此我們並沒有看到計劃變更帶來多少淨收益。本季度燃料利潤率為每加侖 41.6 美分，比去年季度 CPG 的歷史最高水平下降 3.1 美分。燃料毛利潤因 RIN 銷售而增加 2020 萬美元，比去年同期增加 250 萬美元。

Total operating expenses were up 3.2% and or $17.6 million in the first quarter. Nearly 3% of the total operating expense increase is due to unit growth as we operated 82 more stores than the prior year. Credit card fees decreased approximately $6 million due to lower retail fuel prices and that offset essentially all remaining operating expense increases. Same-store employee expense was approximately flat as the increase in wage rates was offset by the reduction in same-store hours. Depreciation in the quarter was $82.9 million, that's up $6.6 million versus the prior year, primarily due to operating more stores. Net interest expense was $12.5 million in the quarter, down $1.3 million versus the prior year, aided by rising interest rates on our cash balances.

第一季度總運營費用增長 3.2%，達到 1,760 萬美元。總營業費用增長的近 3% 是由於單位增長所致，因為我們比上一年多運營了 82 家門店。由於零售燃油價格下降，信用卡費用減少了約 600 萬美元，這基本上抵消了所有剩餘運營費用的增加。同店員工費用大致持平，因為工資的增加被同店工作時間的減少所抵消。本季度折舊為 8290 萬美元，比上年增加 660 萬美元，主要是由於經營更多商店。由於現金餘額利率上升，本季度淨利息支出為 1250 萬美元，比上年減少 130 萬美元。

As a reminder, about 16% of our debt is floating rate. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 23.6% compared to 24.6% in the prior year. That decrease was driven by a onetime benefit that we recorded due to an income tax rate reduction in the state of Nebraska. Net income was up versus the prior year to $169.2 million, an increase of 10.7%. EBITDA for the quarter was $316.9 million compared to $293 million a year ago, an increase of 8.2%. Our balance sheet remains in excellent condition, and we have ample financial flexibility. On July 31, we had total available liquidity of $1.3 billion.

提醒一下，我們大約 16% 的債務是浮動利率的。本季度的有效稅率為 23.6%，而上年同期為 24.6%。這一下降是由我們因內布拉斯加州所得稅率降低而記錄的一次性福利推動的。淨利潤較上年增長 10.7%，達到 1.692 億美元。本季度 EBITDA 為 3.169 億美元，較去年同期的 2.93 億美元增長 8.2%。我們的資產負債表狀況依然良好，並且擁有充足的財務靈活性。 7 月 31 日，我們的可用流動資金總額為 13 億美元。

Furthermore, we have no significant maturities coming due until fiscal 2026. Our leverage ratio, calculated in accordance with our senior notes is now 1.7x. For the quarter, net cash generated by operating activities of $229 million less purchases of property and equipment of $69 million resulted in the company generating $160 million in free cash flow. That compares to generating $194 million in the prior year.

此外，我們在 2026 財年之前沒有重大到期債務。根據我們的優先票據計算，我們的槓桿率目前為 1.7 倍。本季度，經營活動產生的淨現金為 2.29 億美元，減去購買財產和設備的 6,900 萬美元，導致公司產生 1.6 億美元的自由現金流。相比之下，去年的營收為 1.94 億美元。

At the September meeting, the Board of Directors voted to maintain the quarterly dividend at $0.43 per share. During the first quarter, we also repurchased approximately $30 million of stock and have $370 million remaining on our existing share repurchase authorization.

在 9 月份的會議上，董事會投票決定將季度股息維持在每股 0.43 美元。在第一季度，我們還回購了約 3000 萬美元的股票，現有的股票回購授權還剩 3.7 億美元。

Investing in EBITDA and ROIC accretive growth opportunities remains our primary capital allocation priority. But as we mentioned at our Investor Day, our balance sheet affords us the opportunity to be more opportunistic than in the recent past with regards to share repurchase. In our press release and during this call, we have and well mentioned several pending acquisitions. These acquisitions will be funded with cash on hand. The pending transaction with EG Group is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close this calendar year. As a result of the pending transactions, Casey's expects to add at least 150 stores in fiscal 2024.

投資於 EBITDA 和 ROIC 增值增長機會仍然是我們資本配置的首要任務。但正如我們在投資者日提到的，我們的資產負債表使我們有機會在股票回購方面比最近更加投機。在我們的新聞稿和本次電話會議中，我們充分提到了幾項懸而未決的收購。這些收購將由手頭現金提供資金。與 EG 集團的待決交易尚待監管部門批准，預計將於今年完成。由於待完成的交易，Casey's 預計在 2024 財年新增至少 150 家門店。

We will revisit the entire annual outlook following our second quarter earnings call. Our August results for the current quarter are as follows: Same-store sales, both inside and fuel gallons are slightly below the midpoint of their respective annual outlooks. Fuel CPG through August was in the high 30s.

我們將在第二季度財報電話會議後重新審視整個年度前景。我們本季度 8 月份的業績如下： 同店銷售額（內部加侖數和燃油加侖數）均略低於各自年度預期的中點。整個 8 月份的燃料 CPG 都在 30 左右。

At current spot, cheese prices are modestly favorable versus the prior year, but less so than we experienced in the first quarter. Total operating expenses will be near the high end of our annual growth range in the second quarter, and that's primarily due to timing. I'd now like to turn the call back over to Darren.

目前，奶酪價格與去年相比略有優勢，但低於第一季度的水平。第二季度的總運營支出將接近我們年度增長范圍的高端，這主要是由於時機的原因。我現在想把電話轉回達倫。

Thanks, Steve. I would like to express my gratitude to the entire Casey's team for delivering another great quarter. We're off to an extremely strong start to our fiscal year and our 3-year strategic plan. Our M&A and Real Estate teams have been hard at work as we are very excited about the pending acquisition with EG Group and their 63 stores in Kentucky and Tennessee. These stores are located in rural and suburban markets and we look forward to bringing more of our Delicious Pizza to Kentucky and Tennessee. It is complementary to our existing footprint and within our distribution centers radii, further leveraging our scale and infrastructure.

謝謝，史蒂夫。我要對凱西的整個團隊表示感謝，感謝他們又創造了一個偉大的季度。我們的財年和三年戰略計劃有了一個非常強勁的開端。我們的併購和房地產團隊一直在努力工作，因為我們對 EG 集團及其在肯塔基州和田納西州的 63 家商店即將進行的收購感到非常興奮。這些商店位於農村和郊區市場，我們期待將更多美味披薩帶到肯塔基州和田納西州。它是對我們現有足跡和配送中心半徑範圍內的補充，進一步利用我們的規模和基礎設施。

In the first quarter, we also introduced a refreshed app design that makes it easier than ever for our loyalty members to track their points, redeem for rewards and see how much they've saved by shopping with Casey's Rewards. The program is nearing 7 million members, and we're excited to see the way our value proposition is resonating across the Midwest. Our guests have also gravitated to our private label products, and we exited the quarter approaching 350 items in the assortment with over 40 new items in the pipeline for the remainder of the calendar year. And the results are there, achieving nearly 10% unit share and over 10% gross profit share in the first quarter with same-store sales up 26%.

在第一季度，我們還推出了更新的應用程序設計，使我們的忠誠會員能夠比以往更輕鬆地跟踪他們的積分、兌換獎勵以及查看他們通過 Casey's Rewards 購物節省了多少錢。該計劃擁有近 700 萬會員，我們很高興看到我們的價值主張在中西部地區引起共鳴。我們的客人也被我們的自有品牌產品所吸引，本季度我們的產品種類接近 350 種，並在今年剩餘時間內推出了 40 多種新產品。結果已經顯現，第一季度銷量份額接近 10%，毛利潤份額超過 10%，同店銷售額增長 26%。

On the ESG front, we released our third annual sustainability report in July, and it's available on our website. Our team has put in a lot of work to build a more sustainable business for Casey's, and we're excited to share our progress on this journey.

在 ESG 方面，我們於 7 月發布了第三份年度可持續發展報告，可在我們的網站上獲取。我們的團隊投入了大量的工作來為 Casey’s 建立更可持續的業務，我們很高興分享我們在這一過程中取得的進展。

As we look ahead to the second quarter of fiscal '24 and beyond, I'm excited about what Casey's has to offer. Our balance sheet gives us the ability to be disciplined but opportunistic with store growth and our capabilities throughout the organization will allow for that growth to be efficient and innovative. The plan we laid out in June has been well received, and we have the team in place to execute on that plan at a high level and continue to deliver the kind of results our investors have come to inspect from Casey's.

當我們展望 24 財年第二季度及以後時，我對 Casey's 所提供的產品感到興奮。我們的資產負債表使我們能夠在商店增長方面保持紀律，但同時也能抓住機遇，而我們整個組織的能力將使這種增長變得高效和創新。我們在 6 月份制定的計劃受到了好評，我們的團隊已就位，可以高水平執行該計劃，並繼續交付我們的投資者從凱西那裡檢查的結果。

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of our hard work in the quarters and years ahead, and we will now take your questions.

我期待著看到我們在未來幾個季度和幾年里辛勤工作的成果，現在我們將回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question will come from Anthony Bonadio of Wells Fargo.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自富國銀行的安東尼·博納迪奧。

Congrats on the nice quarter. I guess just starting on fuel margins. Clearly, a lot stronger than some of us were expecting. Seems like a pretty normal environment in terms of price action, but there does seem to be a growing consensus that breakevens are sort of drifting higher. I guess, just any thoughts on underlying drivers of that dynamic? And then how are you thinking about that mid-30s number that you talked about as a modeling assumption when you gave the '24 guidance?

祝賀這個美好的季度。我想這只是從燃油利潤開始。顯然，比我們中一些人的預期要強得多。就價格走勢而言，這似乎是一個相當正常的環境，但似乎越來越多的人一致認為盈虧平衡點正在走高。我想，對這種動態的潛在驅動因素有什麼想法嗎？那麼，當您給出 24 世紀指導時，您如何看待您作為建模假設而談論的 30 多歲的數字？

Yes, Anthony, this is Darren. I'll start with that. What you said it was a relatively normal quarter from a fuel margin standpoint. We had some, still a little bit of volatility here and there, but nothing of note. And I'd first just say that I think our team did a really great job of balancing that volume and margin. And when we look at volume numbers for the industry, [OPIS for midcontinent] had those volume numbers down about 4.1% in our geography. So I think our positive gallon growth was great.

是的，安東尼，這是達倫。我將從那開始。你所說的，從燃料利潤率的角度來看，這是一個相對正常的季度。我們到處都有一些波動，仍然有一點波動，但沒有什麼值得注意的。首先我想說的是，我認為我們的團隊在平衡銷量和利潤方面做得非常出色。當我們查看該行業的銷量數據時，[中大陸 OPIS] 在我們的地區的銷量數量下降了約 4.1%。所以我認為我們的加侖增長非常好。

In terms of the outlook moving forward, I would prefer to be a little more on the conservative side, but I have to say that the more recent history as I mentioned in the prepared remarks of 9 quarters over[34.5 cents]. I think it would suggest that those margins may tick up a bit higher. And the pressure that we've talked about over the last couple of years with the smaller operators is still there. The cost of operating the business is still a challenge for a lot of those folks that don't have scale. And I think in the current environment, the continued erosion of the cigarette category is putting additional pressure on those smaller operators.

就未來的前景而言，我更傾向於保守一點，但我不得不說，正如我在準備好的評論中提到的[34.5美分]以上的9個季度的最近歷史。我認為這表明這些利潤率可能會略高一些。過去幾年我們談到的小型運營商面臨的壓力仍然存在。對於許多沒有規模的人來說，經營業務的成本仍然是一個挑戰。我認為在當前環境下，捲菸品類的持續侵蝕給那些規模較小的經營者帶來了額外的壓力。

So I would say, if anything, there's probably an upward bias on fuel margin moving forward.

所以我想說，如果有的話，未來燃料利潤率可能會出現向上的偏差。

Got it. That's really helpful. And then just quickly on operating expenses. Obviously, a very impressive quarter on costs. But on guidance, you raised your unit growth guidance by, it looks like about 2% for fiscal '24, but less OpEx growth unchanged. So I guess, one, why is that? And then two, assuming that still holds and fiscal Q1 is certainly a good data point. I guess what makes you more constructive about your progress there?

知道了。這真的很有幫助。然後很快就可以減少運營費用。顯然，這是一個在成本方面非常令人印象深刻的季度。但根據指導，您將 24 財年的單位增長指導提高了約 2%，但運營支出增長保持不變。所以我想，一，這是為什麼？然後是兩個，假設仍然成立，並且第一財季肯定是一個很好的數據點。我想是什麼讓你對你在那裡的進展更有建設性？

Anthony, this is Steve. I'll maybe start with what's in around the guidance. So we did raise the unit number that we expect to close for the year just based on the strong start to the year that we've had. We don't know the timing of exactly when any of those units are going to come into the system, so to speak, and the EG transaction, as we mentioned, that does require us to get regulatory approval, and so all of our guidance that we gave at the beginning of the year was predicated on that initial unit number.

安東尼，這是史蒂夫。我可能會從指南中的內容開始。因此，我們確實根據今年的強勁開局，提高了預計今年關閉的單位數量。可以這麼說，我們不知道這些單位進入系統的確切時間，而正如我們提到的，EG 交易確實需要我們獲得監管部門的批准，因此我們所有的指導我們在年初給出的數據是基於最初的單位數量。

And so our numbers from an OpEx standpoint are still based on that original unit count. We haven't adjusted total OpEx expectations for when those new units will come in yet because we just don't know when we'll get clearance to close those. So when we revisit the total outlook at the end of the second quarter, we'll be halfway through the year. I think we'll have a lot more clarity around exactly when those units come in and what impact they may have on all of the various metrics, and we'll try to be as transparent as we can at that point in time.

因此，從運營支出的角度來看，我們的數字仍然基於原始單位數量。我們還沒有調整這些新設備何時投入使用的總運營支出預期，因為我們只是不知道何時才能獲得關閉這些設備的許可。因此，當我們在第二季度末重新審視總體前景時，今年已經過去一半了。我認為我們將更清楚地了解這些單位何時進入以及它們可能對所有各種指標產生什麼影響，並且我們將盡力在那個時間點保持透明。

Next question will come from Ben Bienvenu of Stephens Inc.

下一個問題將來自 Stephens Inc. 的 Ben Bienvenu。

I'm going to ask, you provided helpful color on quarter-to-date trends. My understanding or recollection is that August was probably a reasonably difficult comparison, just given last year, that was a period where we saw a precipitous drop in fuel prices off of a very high base following the onset of the Ukraine war. So I'm wondering what does that mean for the compare in the period? And I know it's just the first quarter in the year, and you typically don't revisit guidance until you get a little bit further into the year. But how much does kind of what you're seeing quarter-to-date play into the decision not to address full year guidance?

我想問一下，您提供了有關季度至今趨勢的有用信息。我的理解或記憶是，八月份可能是一個相當困難的比較，就去年而言，在烏克蘭戰爭爆發後，我們看到燃油價格從非常高的基數急劇下降。所以我想知道這對於這一時期的比較意味著什麼？我知道這只是今年的第一季度，你通常不會重新審視指導，直到今年更進一步。但是，您所看到的季度至今的情況在多大程度上影響了不解決全年指引的決定？

Yes, Ben, this is Darren. I would say that, that's got nothing to do with our decision to not update guidance at this point. It's just been our standard practice to wait until the midpoint of the year where we have a bit more visibility into what's going on. So I would just emphasize, you should read nothing into the fact that we didn't update guidance other than the fact that we're one quarter into it, and we have another quarter before we typically do that. We did make the adjustment on the stores because we already have under contract more stores then we had plan to open for the year.

是的，本，這是達倫。我想說的是，這與我們目前不更新指南的決定無關。等到年中我們對正在發生的事情有更多的了解是我們的標準做法。因此，我想強調的是，除了我們已經完成四分之一的事實之外，您不應該對我們沒有更新指導的事實進行任何解讀，並且在我們通常這樣做之前我們還有另一個季度。我們確實對門店進行了調整，因為我們已經簽訂了合同，比我們今年計劃開設的門店還要多。

So that one, just mathematically, we felt obligated to adjust. But everything else, we're just going to wait until second quarter and with respect to how August played out, is just like Steve mentioned in his remarks, we were just slightly below the midpoint of our guidance on fuel and inside the store. And so I think that's what you should read into that.

因此，從數學上來說，我們覺得有義務進行調整。但其他一切，我們只會等到第二季度，關於八月的表現，就像史蒂夫在他的講話中提到的那樣，我們略低於燃料和商店內部指導的中點。所以我認為這就是你應該讀到的內容。

Okay. Fair enough. Great. My second question is on M&A. You noted the balance sheet is still in a great position. The performance of the underlying business continues to improve. I know you've already had a pretty brisk pace of M&A to start the year. But presumably, your appetite is still there. And are there options out there in the market that are intriguing to you?

好的。很公平。偉大的。我的第二個問題是關於併購。您指出資產負債表仍然處於良好狀態。基礎業務業績持續改善。我知道今年年初你們的併購步伐已經相當快了。但想必您的胃口仍然存在。市場上有沒有讓您感興趣的選擇？

Yes. I would say yes to both. I mean, we definitely have the flexibility on the balance sheet to do more deals, and we have the appetite for that. We're really only limited by what's available out there. And I think the macro environment is setting up really favorably for us. Like we've mentioned, costs have still been higher to operate, especially for those who don't have scale. The tobacco mix is starting to have an impact on folks, we believe. And so we've seen a pretty good uptick in the opportunities that are out there for us to pursue. And we have -- our dedicated M&A team has been busy looking at all of those that makes sense for us, and we'll just have to see how that process plays out, but we're definitely in the market for that.

是的。我會對兩者都說“是”。我的意思是，我們的資產負債表絕對具有進行更多交易的靈活性，而且我們對此有興趣。我們實際上只受到可用資源的限制。我認為宏觀環境對我們來說非常有利。正如我們所提到的，運營成本仍然較高，尤其是對於那些沒有規模的企業。我們相信，煙草組合開始對人們產生影響。因此，我們看到可供我們追求的機會有了相當大的增加。我們的專門併購團隊一直忙於研究所有對我們有意義的項目，我們只需要看看這個過程如何進行，但我們肯定會在市場上這樣做。

Our next question will come from Bonnie Herzog of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題將來自高盛的邦妮·赫爾佐格。

I wanted to ask about your inside sales, which were quite healthy. So maybe just hoping for a little bit more color on some of the key categories where you saw, maybe the most growth? And then also on your private label performance. Maybe you could share with us just sort of where you're at with that business that you've rolled out and maybe how it trended throughout the quarter? Especially in the context of the consumer.

我想問一下你們的內部銷售情況，這是相當健康的。所以也許只是希望在您看到的一些關鍵類別上有更多的色彩，也許是增長最快的類別？然後還有您的自有品牌表現。也許您可以與我們分享一下您所推出的業務的進展情況以及整個季度的趨勢如何？尤其是在消費者的背景下。

Yes, Bonnie, I'd say that really happy with the inside sales performance, and it was, we had strength across a lot of categories. I'd start with our Prepared Foods, 5.9%, and that was cycling over 8.5% from the prior year. So really, really strong performance there. And what we really like about that is that it was led with our core with Old Pizza Pies. And so the innovation around Thin Crust was something, there was a gap in our menu and has really resonated well with our guests. And we've hit about 15% mix right out of the chute, with that product, and that's about where we expect it to be actually a little bit higher than what we expected to be compared to the industry overall.

是的，邦妮，我想說，我對內部銷售業績非常滿意，而且我們在很多類別上都有實力。我從我們的預製食品開始，佔 5.9%，與上一年相比循環了 8.5% 以上。那裡的表現非常非常強勁。我們真正喜歡的一點是，它以老披薩餅為核心。因此，圍繞薄皮的創新是有意義的，我們的菜單中有一個空白，並且確實引起了我們的客人的良好共鳴。我們已經用該產品達到了大約 15% 的混合率，這就是我們預計它實際上比我們對整個行業的預期要高一些的地方。

So that was strong. We have some other innovation in the Hot Lunch Sandwich category with our Barbecue Brisket sandwich on the King's Hawaiian Buns, we did a nice collaboration from there, and that category was up 30% during the quarter as a result of that innovation. On the Grocery and General Merchant side, we saw real good strength in nonalcoholic beverages up about 8%. Our Grocery category was up 7% and Alcoholic beverages were up 6%. So felt really, really good strength across the board. Really the only area where we have some softness was in tobacco. And I think that's more of a driven by an industry dynamic more than anything else.

所以這很強大。我們在熱午餐三明治類別中還有一些其他創新，包括國王夏威夷麵包上的燒烤牛胸三明治，我們從那裡進行了很好的合作，由於這項創新，該類別在本季度增長了 30%。在雜貨店和百貨商店方面，我們看到非酒精飲料的強勁增長約 8%。我們的雜貨品類增長了 7%，酒精飲料增長了 6%。所以感覺整體上真的非常非常好。實際上，我們唯一有軟實力的領域是煙草。我認為這更多是由行業動態驅動的。

With respect to private label, again, we're up 26% same-store in private label. Units were up close to 16%. So what that indicates is that we had good velocity on the unit side, but we're also able to take a little bit of price and still keep that relative value proposition for the guests. And so that's been resonating with our guests, and we're really happy to explore we're at on that one.

就自有品牌而言，我們的自有品牌同店銷售額再次增長了 26%。單位漲幅接近16%。因此，這表明我們在單位方面擁有良好的速度，但我們也能夠採取一點價格，但仍然為客人保留相對價值主張。這引起了我們的客人的共鳴，我們很高興探索我們正在做的事情。

Okay. Helpful color. And if I may, just a follow-up on that. Just thinking about your inside margin expansion, which was also quite healthy. You did attribute it a lot of it. It sounded like to the softening of ingredient costs specifically cheese. So curious to kind of hear how we should think about your margin performance for the rest of the year? And then thinking about some of what you just mentioned, Darren, and some of the innovation that's driving growth, how has that been impacting margins? Is it accretive? As you think about as you continue to evolve what you're offering in your store.

好的。有用的顏色。如果可以的話，我只是跟進一下。想想你的內部利潤擴張，這也是相當健康的。你確實把它歸因於很多。聽起來像是原料的軟化成本特別是奶酪。很想知道我們應該如何看待你們今年剩餘時間的利潤表現？然後想想你剛才提到的一些內容，達倫，以及一些推動增長的創新，這對利潤率有何影響？是否具有增值性？當您思考並不斷改進商店中提供的產品時。

Yes. With respect to the innovation, I'll start there, and I'll let Steve talk a little bit more about the margin cadence. But with the innovation we've really leaned heavier on that to drive traffic and to drive sales and less focused on some of the more aggressive value offers. I mean we did do a little bit of that over the summer, a Fountain Drink promotion, and that worked out really well to drive traffic. But when we look at innovation on the Food side, we've not had to discount that innovation, and we've been able to drive volume. And so we think our team is really hitting its stride in terms of understanding what the guest needs are. And our culinary team is really developing those products. They are specifically hitting those needs, and that's what's resonating with the guests. And so it's allowing us to drive that incremental growth without having to do a lot of discounting to get there.

是的。關於創新，我將從這裡開始，我會讓史蒂夫更多地談論一下邊際節奏。但通過創新，我們確實更加依賴於增加流量和銷售，而不是關註一些更具侵略性的價值優惠。我的意思是，我們在夏天確實做了一些這樣的事情，即噴泉飲料促銷，這對於增加流量非常有效。但當我們審視食品方面的創新時，我們不必低估這種創新，而且我們已經能夠提高銷量。因此，我們認為我們的團隊在了解客人的需求方面確實取得了長足的進步。我們的烹飪團隊正在真正開發這些產品。他們專門滿足這些需求，這就是與客人產生共鳴的地方。因此，它使我們能夠推動增量增長，而無需進行大量折扣即可實現這一目標。

And Bonnie, this is Steve. I think we certainly continue to expect inside margin to improve year-over-year that's reflected in the guidance on the Grocery side of the business. The private label mix change in conjunction with, generally speaking, tobacco, becoming gradually a smaller part of the mix is going to naturally flatter, the Grocery margin and the real opportunity, as you know, is on the prepared food side of the business. And so we're 80% hedged on our cheese buy for the remainder of this year. And so less exposed to spot variability here in the out quarters.

邦妮，這是史蒂夫。我認為我們當然繼續期望內部利潤率同比改善，這反映在雜貨業務方面的指導中。一般而言，自有品牌組合的變化與煙草一起逐漸成為組合中較小的一部分，自然會變得更加平坦，雜貨利潤率和真正的機會，如您所知，是在業務的預製食品方面。因此，我們對今年剩餘時間購買的奶酪進行了 80% 的對沖。因此，在外部區域，較少受到現場變化的影響。

We were 18% to the good on cheese in the first quarter. We're kind of mid-to-high single digits to the good in Q2, 3 and 4 as we sit here right now with spot, but the 80% hedge will -- won't give us quite as much upside as we saw in the first quarter, but I feel good about year-over-year deflation generally on the cheese side of the business. And by and large, there's still less pressure on the protein side of that business. And so I think we still feel good that we will continue to show improvement year-over-year on the margins on the Prepared Food side of the business as the year progresses.

第一季度我們的奶酪利用率為 18%。我們在第二季度、第三季度和第四季度的表現處於中高個位數，因為我們現在持有現貨，但 80% 的對沖不會給我們帶來我們看到的那麼多上漲空間在第一季度，但我對奶酪業務方面的同比通貨緊縮感到滿意。總的來說，該業務的蛋白質方面的壓力仍然較小。因此，我認為我們仍然感覺良好，隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續在預製食品業務方面的利潤率逐年改善。

Our next question will come from Kelly Bania of BMO Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題將來自 BMO 資本市場的 Kelly Bania。

I wanted to just circle back to the inside comps in August. Sounds like maybe a little bit of a deceleration there, but can you give color on what you're seeing with traffic, ticket, Grocery, Prepared food? Or is this just maybe a little bit of cycling off this Fountain Drink promotion that was done over the summer or just anything that we should think about that's impacting kind of the trend near term?

我想回到八月份的內部比賽。聽起來可能有點減速，但是您能否對您所看到的交通、門票、雜貨、預製食品進行說明？或者這可能只是夏天進行的噴泉飲料促銷活動的一點點，或者只是我們應該考慮的任何會影響近期趨勢的事情？

Yes, Kelly, we still saw, well, first, I'd say we had good traffic throughout the quarter. We were up a little over 1% in actual foot traffic into the store. And we saw that trend continue into August. So -- and we were running that Fountain promotion at the same time throughout August. So really nothing there. I mean it is really a cycling issue more than the deceleration issue, in my opinion and the 2-year comps, I think, were pretty consistent with where we had been in the first quarter. So, and again, we've got some higher comps coming into September as well.

是的，凱利，我們仍然看到，首先，我想說我們整個季度的流量都很好。進入商店的實際人流量增加了 1% 多一點。我們看到這種趨勢持續到八月。所以——我們在整個八月的同一時間進行噴泉促銷活動。所以那裡真的什麼都沒有。我的意思是，在我看來，這實際上是一個循環問題，而不是減速問題，而且我認為兩年的比較與我們第一季度的情況非常一致。因此，我們再次在九月份推出了一些更高的補償。

So I don't -- when we cycle over those higher comps, I start to focus a little bit more on the 2-year stack and make sure that we're still maintaining that momentum there. And so, so far, that's what we've seen. And so I don't have any concerns about the absolute number being a little bit lower than where we were in the first quarter.

所以我不會——當我們循環這些更高的比較時，我開始更多地關注兩年堆棧，並確保我們仍然保持這種勢頭。到目前為止，這就是我們所看到的。因此，我並不擔心絕對數字會比第一季度的水平略低。

Yes. I think, Kelly, just for reference, our inside number in the prior year was almost 8%. So we're cycling that. And August would have been indicative of that. And so it's really just what are you lapping in the prior year more than anything.

是的。我想，凱利，僅供參考，我們去年的內部數字幾乎是 8%。所以我們正在循環它。八月就表明了這一點。所以，最重要的是你在前一年裡跑了多少圈。

Great. That's very helpful. I was also just wondering if you can talk about with some of these new Prepared Food innovation? If you're able to use your data, your loyalty to analyze if you're getting incremental customers that you weren't maybe reaching before? Or if you're simply cannibalizing kind of prior products? Or maybe what your early read is on how this innovation is reaching your customer base?

偉大的。這非常有幫助。我還想知道您是否可以談談這些新的預製食品創新？如果您能夠使用您的數據和忠誠度來分析您是否獲得了以前可能無法接觸到的增量客戶？或者，如果您只是簡單地蠶食以前的產品？或者您早期閱讀的內容可能是關於這項創新如何影響您的客戶群？

Yes. So far, we've been really happy with the performance on the Prepared Food side. And we think about, on the Thin Crust Pizza in particular, we think about half of that has truly been incremental to the business and what some of our loyalty data would suggest is that about 16% of those sales were by new buyers into the pizza category. So in other words, people that weren't buying pizza from us before, about 12% were new guests entirely. And so that's been really helpful. And that was really our hypothesis going into the Thin Crust was that there are certain guests that -- that's all they want. And that's going to be a veto vote in a family if we don't have that offer. And so far, that's all played out. And the rewards data would validate that.

是的。到目前為止，我們對預製食品方面的表現非常滿意。我們認為，特別是薄皮披薩，我們認為其中大約一半確實是業務增量，而我們的一些忠誠度數據表明，大約 16% 的銷售額來自披薩的新買家類別。換句話說，之前沒有從我們這裡購買過披薩的人中，約有 12% 完全是新客人。這真的很有幫助。這確實是我們對薄殼的假設是，有些客人——這就是他們想要的。如果我們沒有這個提議，這將是一個家庭的否決票。到目前為止，一切都已經結束了。獎勵數據將驗證這一點。

Our next question will come from Bobby Griffin of Raymond James.

我們的下一個問題將來自雷蒙德·詹姆斯的鮑比·格里芬。

I guess, first, I wanted to maybe talk about have you seen any small change in customer behavior or anything? As you start to see gas prices move up sequentially. Still not at the peak levels we saw back last year, but we have started to see them move up. So just anything curious about if you're starting to see behavior similar to what was happening in the prior period of very high gas prices?

我想，首先，我想談談您是否看到客戶行為有任何微小的變化或其他什麼？當您開始看到天然氣價格連續上漲時。仍然沒有達到我們去年看到的峰值水平，但我們已經開始看到它們上升。那麼，如果您開始看到與之前油價非常高的時期類似的行為，您是否會感到好奇？

No, Bobby, we haven't seen a dramatic shift in that. And gas price is still about $1 a gallon below where they were last year when we hit the peak. So the pressure is probably not as acute on gas. Where we do see some changes in behavior is really on the lower-income consumer. As a reminder, we are not overly exposed to that consumer. We only have about 1/4 of our gas would fit in that category, about 3 quarters or make more than $50,000 a year. And so they're out of that lower income. And so for that lower income consumer, we do see some shifting around on fuel. They're buying higher ethanol blended fuels and our E15 offering at about 15% gallon growth in the quarter.

不，鮑比，我們還沒有看到這方面發生戲劇性的轉變。汽油價格仍比去年達到峰值時的價格低約每加侖 1 美元。因此，天然氣的壓力可能沒有那麼嚴重。我們確實看到低收入消費者的行為發生了一些變化。提醒一下，我們並沒有過度接觸該消費者。我們只有大約 1/4 的天然氣適合這一類別，大約 3 個季度，或者每年的收入超過 50,000 美元。所以他們擺脫了較低的收入。因此，對於低收入消費者來說，我們確實看到一些人在燃料上發生了轉變。他們購買的乙醇混合燃料和我們的 E15 產品在本季度增長了約 15% 加侖。

So that would be indicative of that. Private label is purchased more frequently by them, and we are seeing some pressure in some categories that were a little more EBT sensitive like take-home dairy and some edible grocery but that's primarily from the lower income consumer. And obviously, even within that grocery category, with a little bit of pressure in some subcategories we're still up 7% year-over-year. So, we think while there is a little bit of that behavior changing at the lower end, overall for the total gas space, it's not having a big impact.

這表明了這一點。他們更頻繁地購買自有品牌，我們看到一些對 EBT 更敏感的類別面臨一些壓力，例如帶回家的乳製品和一些食用雜貨，但這主要來自低收入消費者。顯然，即使在雜貨品類中，由於某些子品類面臨一些壓力，我們仍然同比增長 7%。因此，我們認為，雖然低端的行為發生了一些變化，但總體而言，對於整個天然氣空間來說，它並沒有產生很大的影響。

All right. I appreciate it. That's helpful. And then maybe secondly for me is just on the ongoing strong performance in OpEx with the store hour reductions and optimization, just anything more detail on kind of where you are in that journey? Kind of what you're still finding and where areas of the store are that are getting optimized? And I guess, secondly, is it across the network that you're seeing these savings? Or is it more like, hey, we've identified a subset of stores in certain regions that we're getting better optimization out of?

好的。我很感激。這很有幫助。其次，對我來說，也許就是運營支出持續強勁的表現以及商店營業時間的減少和優化，還有更多關於您在此旅程中所處位置的詳細信息嗎？您還在尋找什麼以及商店的哪些區域正在得到優化？我想，其次，您是通過網絡看到這些節省的嗎？或者更像是，嘿，我們已經確定了某些地區的商店子集，我們正在對其進行更好的優化？

Just any further clarity around there because the performance has been very strong.

因為表現非常強勁，所以周圍還有進一步的清晰度。

Yes. Thanks. No, I'm really, really proud of the continuous improvement team that's been working on this. And this has been going on for over a year now. And, I'd tell you first is that they're really taking a scientific approach to where those bottlenecks are in our store operation, where we are spending labor that is just not having an impact on the business and how we can change those processes or employ technology to make them more efficient. And so I feel really good about the fact that we've taken these hours out, but our engagement scores are up among our team members and our OSAT scores are up among our guests.

是的。謝謝。不，我真的非常為一直致力於此的持續改進團隊感到自豪。而這種情況已經持續了一年多了。而且，我首先要告訴你的是，他們確實採用了科學的方法來解決我們商店運營中的瓶頸所在、我們在哪些方面花費了對業務沒有影響的勞動力以及我們如何改變這些流程或者採用技術來提高效率。因此，我對我們抽出這些時間感到非常高興，但我們的團隊成員的敬業度分數有所提高，我們的客人的 OSAT 分數也有所提高。

So it's an indication that we're just simply running this business more effectively and not having a negative impact on the guest experience or our team members.

因此，這表明我們只是更有效地運營這項業務，並沒有對客人體驗或我們的團隊成員產生負面影響。

In terms of the sustainability, obviously, whenever you go into one of these exercises, there's some low-hanging fruit and you get that first. But our team has as a pipeline or a road map for the next 3 years of discrete initiatives that they've identified that we can implement and continue to take OpEx out of the store or give the store more slack to run the store better.

就可持續性而言，顯然，每當您進行其中一項練習時，都會有一些唾手可得的成果，您首先會得到它。但我們的團隊已經為未來3 年的離散計劃制定了管道或路線圖，他們已經確定我們可以實施這些計劃並繼續將運營支出從商店中剔除，或者給予商店更多的餘地以更好地運營商店。

So we feel this is sustainable, and we still have a few years to go in terms of capturing all these opportunities.

因此，我們認為這是可持續的，而且我們還有幾年的時間才能抓住所有這些機會。

Our next question will come from Irene Nattel of RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題將來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的艾琳·納特爾。

I wanted to come back to the subject of gas margins, which obviously is a great interest to all investors. So as you noted, it's what, 5 quarters that you've been in and around that $0.40 range. What would it take for you guys to get more comfortable with sort of a soft guide towards something in the high 30s or even 40% versus the mid-30s?

我想回到天然氣利潤率的話題，這顯然是所有投資者都非常感興趣的。正如您所指出的，您已經有 5 個季度處於 0.40 美元的範圍內。你們需要怎樣才能對30多歲甚至40%的人與30多歲中期的人更適應某種軟指導？

Well -- Well, Irene, that's a really nuanced question. For me to get more comfortable, I just have to see more of it, I suppose. Admittedly, it took me a while to get comfortable with mid-30s. But we got there because we just kept doing it. And so I think we were able to get to 40% this last quarter. I would say last year, with everything going on in the Ukraine, we saw that spike in those 40s kind of came through more of an exogenous event. So I would want to see a little bit longer time frame of more normal, of a more normal macro environment and margins at this level before I feel comfortable underwriting that.

嗯——嗯，艾琳，這是一個非常微妙的問題。我想，為了讓我感到更舒服，我只需要看到更多。不可否認，我花了一段時間才適應三十多歲的生活。但我們之所以能做到這一點，是因為我們一直在這樣做。所以我認為我們上個季度達到了 40%。我想說，去年，隨著烏克蘭發生的一切，我們看到 40 多歲的峰值更多地是由於外源事件造成的。因此，在我放心地承保之前，我希望看到更正常、更正常的宏觀環境和這個水平的利潤率更長一點的時間框架。

At that level, at the upper 30s, low 40s. But the mid-30s because we've been there for so long. I'm very comfortable at that level.

在這個水平上，上30歲，下40歲。但三十多歲了，因為我們已經在那里呆了太久了。我對這個水平感到很舒服。

Fair enough, and that's very helpful. And then just a couple of follow-ups. One, you noted that you're 80% hedged on cheese prices, at what price? And you also noted an uptick in M&A activity. What are you seeing on multiples in terms of expectations?

很公平，這非常有幫助。然後只是一些後續行動。第一，您注意到您對奶酪價格進行了 80% 的對沖，價格是多少？您還注意到併購活動有所增加。您對市盈率的預期有何看法？

Well, I'd say with multiple expectations, it's an interesting dynamic because I would say that the EBITDA for some of these smaller operators has actually gone down, so the multiples are kind of hanging in there but a lower level of EBITDA. And I know that's counterintuitive given the margins that we're seeing. But I think it's really indicative of the fact that these smaller players that lack scale haven't been able to offset a lot of the cost increases in a way a company like ourselves has been able to. And so they're just under a lot of pressure even though they've got those higher margins. And so I think that's worked out to our benefit. And I forgot the second part of your question.

嗯，我想說的是，在多重預期的情況下，這是一個有趣的動態，因為我想說，其中一些小型運營商的EBITDA 實際上已經下降，所以倍數有點懸在那裡，但EBITDA 水平較低。我知道考慮到我們所看到的利潤率，這是違反直覺的。但我認為這確實表明了這樣一個事實：這些缺乏規模的小型企業無法像我們這樣的公司那樣抵消大量成本的增加。因此，儘管他們的利潤率較高，但他們仍然面臨很大的壓力。所以我認為這對我們有利。我忘記了你問題的第二部分。

Maybe I'll try to answer that. So we are 80% hedged, that's correct. And at the current spot we obviously hedge the commodity. That's a little bit different than the all-in cost that we pay. But the all-in equivalent for the out quarters looks a lot like what we incurred in the first quarter. So kind of that [$2 and 12] or low teen number is about what the strip looks like here for the rest of the year at the current spot.

也許我會嘗試回答這個問題。所以我們 80% 是對沖的，這是正確的。在目前的情況下，我們顯然對沖了商品。這與我們支付的總成本略有不同。但季度外支出的總金額看起來很像我們第一季度的支出。所以，[2 美元和 12 美元] 或低青少年數字就是關於今年剩餘時間在當前地點的地帶的樣子。

Our next question will come from Daniel Silverstein of Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題將來自瑞士信貸銀行的丹尼爾·西爾弗斯坦。

Just one on the EG acquisition. So that deal had some stores, which will serve dense or larger metro areas like Bowling Green and Lexington, Kentucky. Just wondering if you're seeing more opportunities to penetrate larger markets given the landscape today? And how you view the opportunities and challenges of bringing the Casey's brand to those denser areas?

只是關於 EG 收購的一件事。因此，這筆交易涉及一些商店，這些商店將為鮑靈格林和肯塔基州列剋星敦等人口稠密或較大的都市區提供服務。只是想知道，鑑於當今的形勢，您是否看到了更多進入更大市場的機會？您如何看待將凱西品牌引入這些人口密集地區的機遇和挑戰？

Yes, Dan. When we think about markets like Bowling Green and Lexington, those aren't real, or significantly larger markets than a lot of the markets we operate in today. Lexington is a city that's comparable to in size to Des Moines where we're based. And so we're very comfortable at that level. This isn't a Chicago or Los Angeles or New York type of scenario by any stretch. And so if I've been to both of those markets, Bowling Green is a fantastic market for us. Lexington will be a great market for us. So we're very comfortable operating in accounts of this size. So I don't have any concerns there.

是的，丹。當我們想到像鮑靈格林和列剋星敦這樣的市場時，這些市場並不是真實的，也不是比我們今天經營的許多市場大得多的市場。列剋星敦的規模與我們所在的得梅因相當。所以我們對這個水平感到非常滿意。無論如何，這都不是芝加哥、洛杉磯或紐約類型的場景。因此，如果我去過這兩個市場，那麼鮑靈格林對我們來說是一個絕佳的市場。列剋星敦對我們來說將是一個巨大的市場。因此，我們對這種規模的賬戶進行操作非常滿意。所以我在那裡沒有任何擔憂。

Next question will come from Krisztina Katai of Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題將由德意志銀行的 Krisztina Katai 提出。

I wanted to ask on private label. So that 10% unit share and the gross profit contribution you shared with us is a great result. Maybe can you talk about where you are in the process of that rollout? Any particular areas where you're seeing significant strength? I think you called out 16% unit growth. So my question is, is that broad-based? Or are there any particular areas that are driving that performance?

我想問自有品牌。因此，10% 的單位份額和您與我們分享的毛利潤貢獻是一個很好的結果。也許您能談談您在推出過程中的進展情況嗎？您在哪些特定領域看到了顯著的優勢？我認為您提出了 16% 的單位增長。所以我的問題是，這是否具有廣泛基礎？或者是否有任何特定領域推動了這種表現？

Yes, Krisztina, we're still continuing to evolve the private label portfolio. We've got another 40 items that will go into the assortment by the end of the year. And we're -- at the same time, we're optimizing products. So as some products start to atrophy a little bit, we'll remove them from the assortment and we bring in new innovation. And so that's a constant process that our private label team is operating with. With respect to where we saw some strength certainly bottled water was probably our strongest, up about 70% in sales and now our bottled water is about 50% of that bottle water category, our private labels. So really strong performance there. Obviously, that's a little bit seasonal in the summertime, but we're seeing great growth year-over-year in that.

是的，Krisztina，我們仍在繼續發展自有品牌產品組合。我們還有另外 40 種商品將在今年年底進入該分類。與此同時，我們正在優化產品。因此，當某些產品開始略有萎縮時，我們會將它們從產品類別中刪除，並引入新的創新。因此，這是我們自有品牌團隊持續運作的流程。就我們所看到的優勢而言，瓶裝水無疑是我們最強的，銷售額增長了約 70%，現在我們的瓶裝水約佔瓶裝水類別（我們的自有品牌）的 50%。那裡的表現非常強勁。顯然，夏季的情況有點季節性，但我們看到這一數字逐年大幅增長。

Another category that's been really strong is Chips. And Chips is usually a pretty tough one because it's a very competitive category. But we had some new innovation with some new flavors that were seasonal just for this summer and saw north of 70% same-store sales in that category as well. And now that category is about 25% penetrated. And again, with the competitive landscape in that category, that's a big statement. So we like where we are there. And we've seen some broader base strength, but those are the really kind of the standouts that we've seen so far.

另一個非常強勁的類別是薯條。薯片通常是一個非常艱難的類別，因為它是一個競爭非常激烈的類別。但我們有一些新的創新，包括一些今年夏天季節性的新口味，並且該類別的同店銷售額也超過了 70%。現在該類別的滲透率約為 25%。再說一次，考慮到該類別的競爭格局，這是一個重要的聲明。所以我們喜歡我們所處的位置。我們已經看到了一些更廣泛的基礎實力，但這些才是我們迄今為止所看到的真正的佼佼者。

That's great. And then just my follow-up. I was going to ask around pizza and in particular, the 12% new guests that you mentioned, I think, following the Thin-Crust introduction, have you seen any competitive response to you taking pizza share? Or do you anticipate any changes in the promotional landscape or anything around pricing?

那太棒了。然後就是我的後續行動。我想問一下披薩方面的問題，特別是你提到的 12% 的新客人，我想，在推出 Thin-Crust 之後，你有沒有看到任何對你分享披薩的競爭反應？或者您預計促銷環境或定價方面會發生任何變化嗎？

Not at this point, we, it's a little bit hard for me to say whether we've taken share from any of the major competitors for the most part, Pizza is our primary competitor in most of our markets. If we have one, in a lot of cases in our more rural markets, there may not be a competitor or if there is one that's more of a mom and pop. So it's really difficult to say, but I couldn't tell you that we've seen an uptick in promotional activity from competitors since we've launched the Thin Crust. I think the other pizza players have struggled a little bit from a velocity standpoint. So I think they're starting to get a little more promotional anyway, but I haven't seen any change as a result of what we've done.

在這一點上，我們，我很難說我們是否在很大程度上從任何主要競爭對手那里奪取了份額，披薩是我們大多數市場的主要競爭對手。如果我們有一個，在很多情況下，在我們更多的農村市場，可能沒有競爭對手，或者如果有一個更像是夫妻店。所以這真的很難說，但我不能告訴你，自從我們推出 Thin Crust 以來，我們已經看到競爭對手的促銷活動有所增加。我認為從速度的角度來看，其他披薩玩家有點掙扎。所以我認為無論如何他們都開始得到更多的促銷，但我還沒有看到我們所做的事情帶來任何變化。

Our next question will come from John Lawrence of Benchmark.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Benchmark 的約翰·勞倫斯。

Would you discuss a little bit about the new markets? How quickly does some of this innovation, some of the new products, does that help get those maybe the class of new stores in the last couple of years up and running and ramping a little faster? And what have you noticed with product innovations and maybe the app in some of those new markets?

您能談談新市場嗎？這些創新、一些新產品能以多快的速度幫助這些可能是過去幾年的新商店啟動、運營和發展得更快一些？您在產品創新以及某些新市場中的應用程序中註意到了什麼？

Yes. John, I'm not so sure that we've seen a difference in terms of the impact of innovation has had in the new stores. That being said, we've been really happy with the way our new stores have ramped in the last couple of years. I think that's really a testament to the real estate team and their ability to use for advanced analytics to identify high potential sites and get those sites under contract. And so we've just seen an increase in and how quickly those stores have ramped in general. I think the innovation only helps in that respect, and it gets more people interested in the stores and helps feed that traffic into those stores.

是的。約翰，我不太確定我們是否看到新商店的創新影響有所不同。話雖這麼說，我們對過去幾年新店的發展方式感到非常滿意。我認為這確實證明了房地產團隊及其使用高級分析來識別高潛力地點並使這些地點簽訂合同的能力。因此，我們剛剛看到這些商店的數量總體上有所增加且增長速度有多快。我認為創新只會在這方面有所幫助，它會讓更多的人對商店感興趣，並有助於為這些商店帶來流量。

Great. And secondly, remind us a little bit on that fuel margin. You talked at Analyst Day about some of the things, some of the tools you're using to help with the analytics on that data, on gas prices, et cetera. Would you remind us of that, please?

偉大的。其次，提醒我們一點關於燃料餘量的問題。您在分析師日上談到了一些事情，一些您用來幫助分析數據、天然氣價格等的工具。請您提醒我們這一點好嗎？

Yes. We've had for a number of years, we've had some more analytic tools. We've essentially just given the pricing analysts the information that they need to make more informed decisions. So they -- they've got a real-time credit card data that allows us to see where competitors are priced. We've got information feeding to them from the commodity market. So they know where cost is moving at any given time. And so they really have -- and then they have inventory information from the store. So at any given time, they really have a complete picture of all the factors that would influence price within a particular trade area.

是的。我們已經有很多年了，我們已經有了更多的分析工具。我們基本上只是向定價分析師提供了他們做出更明智決策所需的信息。因此，他們擁有實時信用卡數據，使我們能夠了解競爭對手的定價。我們從商品市場向他們提供信息。因此他們知道在任何給定時間成本的變化情況。所以他們確實有——然後他們從商店獲得了庫存信息。因此，在任何給定時間，他們都可以全面了解影響特定貿易區域內價格的所有因素。

And so they're just simply able to make more informed decisions as a result of that.

因此，他們只是能夠做出更明智的決定。

Thank you. I see no further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the conference back to Darren Rebelez for closing remarks.

謝謝。我在隊列中沒有看到更多問題。現在我想請達倫·雷貝雷斯 (Darren Rebelez) 致閉幕詞。

Okay. Thank you for taking the time today to join us on the call. And before we sign off, I want to thank the team members for all their hard work this quarter, and everybody, have a great rest of the day.

好的。感謝您今天抽出時間參加我們的電話會議。在我們結束之前，我要感謝團隊成員本季度的辛勤工作，祝大家今天休息愉快。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for participating. You may now disconnect, and have a pleasant day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的參與。您現在可以斷開連接，並度過愉快的一天。