Caseys General Stores Inc (CASY) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the first-quarter fiscal year 2026 Casey's General Stores Earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this call may be recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加 2026 財年第一季 Casey's General Stores 財報電話會議。（操作員指示）提醒一下，此通話可能會被錄音。現在我想將電話轉給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 for our first quarter ended July 31, 2025. I'm Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development. 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.

早安，感謝您加入我們討論截至 2025 年 7 月 31 日的第一季業績。我是布萊恩·約翰遜，投資者關係和業務發展高級副總裁。今天與我一起出席的是董事長、總裁兼執行長 Darren Rebelez 和財務長 Steve Bramlage。在我們開始之前，我要提醒您，我們在本次投資人電話會議中所做的某些聲明可能構成《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法案》所定義的前瞻性聲明。

These forward-looking statements include any statements relating to the potential impact of the Fikes transaction, 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.

這些前瞻性陳述包括與 Fikes 交易的潛在影響、對未來期間的預期、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、業務和整合策略、計劃和協同效應、成長機會和我們商店的表現有關的任何陳述。

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 conflicts in oil-producing regions 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這些前瞻性陳述表達或暗示的任何未來結果有重大差異。包括但不限於最近收購的整合、我們執行戰略計劃或從戰略計劃中實現收益的能力、產油區衝突的影響和持續時間以及相關政府行動以及其他風險、不確定性和因素，這些在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新 10-K 表年度報告和 10-Q 表季度報告中均有描述，可在我們的網站上查閱。

Any forward-looking statements made during this call can 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.

本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述都可能反映我們截至今天對未來事件的當前看法，Casey's 不承擔因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而更新或修改前瞻性陳述的任何意圖或義務。本次電話會議中提及的非 GAAP 與 GAAP 財務指標的對帳以及本季度營運費用增加的詳細分類可在我們的網站 www.caseys.com 的「投資者關係」連結中找到。

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，我現在想把電話轉給達倫，討論我們的第一季業績。達倫？

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. Before we dive into our strong first quarter performance, I'd like to congratulate the entire Casey's team for executing an outstanding summer plan at a high level and delivering a terrific guest experience across Casey's Country. I'd also like to highlight the positive impact Casey's is making on our communities. As students head back-to-school, Casey's is excited to see the impact of our Cash-for-Classrooms Grants come to life. Last year, we awarded $900,000 to schools throughout our communities.

謝謝，布萊恩，大家早安。在我們深入探討第一季的強勁業績之前，我想祝賀整個 Casey 團隊高水準地執行了出色的夏季計劃，並為整個 Casey's Country 帶來了極好的賓客體驗。我還想強調一下 Casey 對我們的社區的正面影響。隨著學生們返校，Casey's 很高興看到我們的「現金換教室」補助金所產生的影響。去年，我們向各個社區的學校捐贈了 90 萬美元。

Thanks to the generosity of our guests and team members, along with the support from our supplier partner, Coca-Cola, this August campaign raised over $1 million, fueling our continued commitment to supporting education and enriching the lives of children across our footprint. Now let's discuss the results from the quarter. Diluted EPS finished at $5.77 per share, a 19% increase from the prior year. The company generated $215 million in net income and $414 million in EBITDA, both of which are an increase of 20% from the prior year.

感謝我們的客人和團隊成員的慷慨解囊，以及我們的供應商合作夥伴可口可樂的支持，本次八月活動籌集了超過 100 萬美元，推動了我們繼續致力於支持教育和豐富我們業務範圍內兒童的生活。現在讓我們討論一下本季的結果。稀釋每股收益為每股 5.77 美元，較上年增長 19%。該公司淨收入為 2.15 億美元，EBITDA 為 4.14 億美元，均比上年增長 20%。

Inside the store, we saw positive traffic growth as guests responded well to our innovation and promotional activity in the prepared food and dispensed beverage category. We also experienced margin expansion driven primarily by the grocery and general merchandise category. Our fuel team is doing an excellent job balancing fuel volume and margin, achieving positive same-store gallons and margins above $0.40 per gallon.

在店內，我們看到了積極的客流量成長，因為客人對我們在預製食品和飲料類別中的創新和促銷活動反應良好。我們的利潤率也出現了擴大，這主要得益於雜貨和日用百貨類別。我們的燃料團隊在平衡燃料量和利潤方面做得非常出色，實現了同店加侖數為正，利潤率超過每加侖 0.40 美元。

As we work through the last year of our three-year strategic plan, I'm extremely confident in our team's ability to execute at a high level and continue to grow the business. I would now like to go over the results and share some of the details in each of the categories.

在我們完成三年戰略計劃的最後一年之際，我對我們團隊高水準執行和繼續發展業務的能力非常有信心。現在我想回顧一下結果並分享每個類別的一些細節。

Inside same-store sales were up 4.3% for the first quarter or 6.7% on a two-year stack basis with an average margin of 41.9%. Same-store prepared food and dispensed beverage led the way as sales were up 5.6% or 10.2% on a two-year stack basis with an average margin of 58%. O pies and bakery performed well in the quarter. Margin was down approximately 30 basis points from the prior year as the lower margin from the recently acquired CEFCO stores was partially offset by modest retail price adjustments, primarily in bakery and cost of goods management.

第一季同店銷售額成長 4.3%，兩年累計成長 6.7%，平均利潤率為 41.9%。同店預製食品和飲料銷售額領先，兩年累計成長 5.6% 或 10.2%，平均利潤率為 58%。O 餡餅和烘焙食品在本季表現良好。利潤率較前一年下降了約 30 個基點，因為最近收購的 CEFCO 商店的利潤率較低，但被適度的零售價格調整（主要是在烘焙和商品成本管理方面）部分抵消。

Same-store grocery and general merchandise sales were up 3.8% or 5.4% on a two-year stack basis with an average margin of 35.9%, an increase of approximately 50 basis points from the prior year primarily due to favorable mix shift to higher-margin items such as energy drinks and nicotine alternatives within their categories.

同店雜貨和日用百貨銷售額以兩年疊加計算增長 3.8% 或 5.4%，平均利潤率為 35.9%，比上年增加約 50 個基點，主要由於產品組合向利潤率更高的商品（如能量飲料和尼古丁替代品）轉變。

Turning to fuel. Same-store gallons sold were up 1.7% with a fuel margin of $0.41 per gallon. According to OPIS fuel gallons sold data, the Mid-Continent region saw an approximate 3% decline this quarter, suggesting we continue to grow market share. The fuel team is successfully balancing volume and margin and the performance shows it.

轉向燃料。同店燃油銷量上漲 1.7%，燃油利潤率為每加侖 0.41 美元。根據 OPIS 燃油加侖銷售數據，中部地區本季銷量下降約 3%，顯示我們的市佔率持續成長。燃料團隊成功地平衡了產量和利潤，績效也證明了這一點。

We continue to be judicious managing operating expense with an increase of 3% on a same-store, excluding credit card fee basis, lapping a 0.7% increase in the prior year. Our focus on simplifying the operations once again resulted in reduced training in overtime hours, yielding an overall decrease of 1% [same-store labor]

我們繼續明智地管理營運費用，同店營業費用（不包括信用卡費用）增加 3%，高於前一年 0.7% 的增幅。我們再次專注於簡化運營，從而減少了加班時間的培訓，使同店勞動力總體減少了 1%

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

現在我想把電話轉給史蒂夫，討論第一季的財務結果。史蒂夫？

Thank you, Darren, and good morning. We're clearly starting the third year of our three-year strategic plan on a really strong note, and I'm extremely proud of the hard work of the team during the quarter. Total revenue for the quarter was $4.6 billion. That's an increase of $469 million or 11.5% from the prior year that is due primarily to higher inside sales as well as higher fuel gallons sold, partially offset by a lower retail fuel price. Results were also favorably impacted by operating approximately 8% more stores on a year-over-year basis.

謝謝你，達倫，早安。顯然，我們正以強勁的勢頭開啟三年戰略計劃的第三年，我為團隊在本季的辛勤工作感到非常自豪。本季總營收為 46 億美元。這比前一年增加了 4.69 億美元，即 11.5%，這主要是由於內部銷售額增加以及燃油銷量增加，但零售燃油價格下降部分抵消了這一影響。與去年同期相比，門市數量增加了約 8%，這也對業績產生了正面影響。

Total inside sales for the quarter were $1.68 billion, an increase of $210 million or 14.2% from the prior year. For the quarter, prepared food and dispensed beverage sales rose by $53 million to $458 million, an increase of 13.2% and grocery and general merchandise sales increased by $156 million to $1.23 billion, that's an increase of 14.6%.

本季內部銷售額總額為 16.8 億美元，較上年增加 2.1 億美元，增幅為 14.2%。本季，預製食品和飲料銷售額成長 5,300 萬美元，達到 4.58 億美元，增幅為 13.2%，雜貨和日用百貨銷售額增長 1.56 億美元，達到 12.3 億美元，增幅為 14.6%。

Retail fuel sales were up $178 million in the quarter as an 18% increase in fuel gallons sold was partially offset by a 9% decline in the average retail price. The average retail price of fuel during this period was $3 a gallon, and that compares to $3.31 a year ago. We define gross profit as revenue less cost of goods sold, but excluding depreciation and amortization.

本季零售燃料銷售額成長了 1.78 億美元，因為燃料銷量成長了 18%，但平均零售價格下降了 9%，部分抵消了這一增長。這段時期燃料的平均零售價為每加侖 3 美元，而一年前為 3.31 美元。我們將毛利定義為收入減去銷售成本，但不包括折舊和攤提。

Casey's had gross profit of $1.11 billion in the quarter, an increase of $157 million or 16.5% from the prior year. This is driven by both higher inside gross profit of $91.1 million or 14.8% as well as higher fuel gross profit of $59 million or 18.8%. Inside gross profit margin was 41.9%, up 20 basis points from a year ago. Prepared food and dispensed beverage margin was 58%. That's down 30 basis points from prior year.

Casey's 本季毛利為 11.1 億美元，較上年增加 1.57 億美元，增幅為 16.5%。這是由於內部毛利增加 9,110 萬美元（成長 14.8%），以及燃料毛利增加 5,900 萬美元（成長 18.8%）。內部毛利率為41.9%，較去年同期上升20個基點。預製食品和飲料的利潤率為58%。比前一年下降了 30 個基點。

Cheese was $2.11 per pound for the quarter compared to $2.09 per pound last year. That's an increase of 1% or less than 10 basis points. There was an approximately 110 basis point headwind from the CEFCO stores that was partially offset by modest retail price adjustments as well as strong cost of goods management. The Grocery and General Merchandise margin was 35.9%, an increase of 50 basis points from the prior year, and the change is primarily due to favorable mix shift within the category.

本季起司價格為每磅 2.11 美元，而去年同期為每磅 2.09 美元。這意味著成長了 1%，或說增幅不到 10 個基點。CEFCO 商店帶來了約 110 個基點的不利影響，但適度的零售價格調整和強大的商品成本管理部分抵消了這一不利影響。食品雜貨和日用百貨的利潤率為 35.9%，比上年增加了 50 個基點，這一變化主要是由於該類別內部的有利組合轉變。

Fuel margin for the quarter was $0.41 per gallon. That's up $0.03 per gallon from prior year. This is inclusive of an approximately $0.015 per gallon drag due to the CEFCO stores. Total operating expenses were up 14.6% or $88.7 million in the quarter. Approximately 10% of the total operating expense increase is due to unit growth as we operated 221 more stores than in the prior year. Same-store employee expense accounted for approximately 1.5% of the increase as modest increases in wage rates were partially offset by the reduction in same-store hours.

本季燃油利潤率為每加侖 0.41 美元。這比去年每加侖上漲了 0.03 美元。這包括因 CEFCO 商店而產生的每加侖約 0.015 美元的拖累。本季總營運費用上漲 14.6%，或 8,870 萬美元。總營運費用增加的約 10% 是由於單位成長，因為我們經營的門市比前一年多了 221 家。同店員工費用約佔增幅的 1.5%，因為工資率的適度增長被同店營業時間的減少部分抵消。

Higher insurance and property taxes contributed to approximately 1% of the increase. Net interest expense was $26.9 million in the quarter, and that's up $12.8 million versus the prior year, which is primarily due to the financing associated with the Fikes transaction. Depreciation in the quarter was $109 million, and that's up nearly $15 million versus the prior year, primarily due to operating more stores. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 22.7%. That's compared to 24.1% in the prior year.

保險稅和財產稅的上漲約佔成長的 1%。本季淨利息支出為 2,690 萬美元，比上年增加 1,280 萬美元，主要歸因於與 Fikes 交易相關的融資。本季折舊為 1.09 億美元，比上年增加近 1,500 萬美元，主要原因是經營了更多門市。本季有效稅率為22.7%。相比之下，上一年這一比例為 24.1%。

The decrease was driven by an increase in tax benefits that we recognized on share-based awards. Additionally, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, our cash taxes will be reduced by approximately $90 million related capital spending over the course of the fiscal year. This will not impact the tax rate for EPS purposes. Net income was up versus the prior year to $215.4 million, an increase of 19.5%. EBITDA for the quarter was $414.3 million, that's an increase of 19.8%.

下降的原因是我們在股權獎勵中確認的稅收優惠增加。此外，作為「一項偉大的美麗法案」的一部分，我們的現金稅將在本財政年度內減少約 9,000 萬美元的相關資本支出。這不會影響 EPS 的稅率。淨收入較上年同期上漲 19.5% 至 2.154 億美元。本季 EBITDA 為 4.143 億美元，成長 19.8%。

Our balance sheet remains in excellent condition, and we have more than ample financial flexibility. On July 31, we had total available liquidity of $1.4 billion. Also on July 31, our debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 1.8 times as calculated under the covenants in our credit facilities.

我們的資產負債表依然保持良好狀態，並且擁有充足的財務彈性。截至 7 月 31 日，我們可用的流動資金總額為 14 億美元。此外，截至 7 月 31 日，根據我們的信貸安排中的契約計算，我們的債務與 EBITDA 比率為 1.8 倍。

For the quarter, net cash generated by operating activities of $372 million plus purchases of property and equipment of $110 million resulted in the company generating $262 million of free cash flow, and that compares to $181 million generated in the prior year. At the September meeting, the Board voted to maintain the quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share.

本季度，經營活動產生的淨現金為 3.72 億美元，加上購買的 1.1 億美元的財產和設備，使公司產生了 2.62 億美元的自由現金流，而去年同期為 1.81 億美元。在九月的會議上，董事會投票決定維持每股 0.57 美元的季度股息。

During the first quarter, we repurchased approximately $31 million in shares, and we have approximately $264 million remaining on our existing share repurchase authorization. As a reminder, investing in EBITDA and ROIC accretive growth investments remains our primary capital allocation priority. But consistent with our fiscal year 2026 outlook and given our modest leverage levels of strong cash flows.

在第一季度，我們回購了價值約 3,100 萬美元的股票，我們現有的股票回購授權還剩餘約 2.64 億美元。提醒一下，投資 EBITDA 和 ROIC 增值成長投資仍然是我們主要的資本配置重點。但這與我們 2026 財年的展望一致，並考慮到我們適度的槓桿水平和強勁的現金流。

We repurchased shares during the quarter, and we expect to continue to do so for the remainder of the fiscal year. Consistent with our past practice, we plan to update annual guidance on our second quarter earnings call when we're through the seasonally largest time of the year.

我們在本季回購了股票，並預計在本財年剩餘時間內將繼續這樣做。與我們過去的做法一致，我們計劃在度過一年中最重要的季節性時期時，在第二季財報電話會議上更新年度指導。

Now our results for August were as follows: same-store volumes, both inside and outside the store are consistent with our annual guidance expectations. Fuel CPG was near $0.40 per gallon and current cheese costs are slightly favorable versus the prior year.

現在我們八月的業績如下：店內和店外的同店銷售量都符合我們的年度指引預期。燃料 CPG 價格接近每加侖 0.40 美元，當前起司成本與前一年相比略有下降。

As a reminder, the second quarter is the final quarter where we're going to be comping non-ownership of Fikes in the prior year. With this in mind, we expect second quarter operating expense to be up mid-teens, as we had previously communicated.

提醒一下，第二季是我們將對上一年的 Fikes 非所有權進行補償的最後一個季度。考慮到這一點，我們預計第二季的營運費用將成長百分之十幾，正如我們之前所說的。

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

我現在將電話轉回給達倫。

Thanks, Steve. I'd like to thank the entire Casey's team for an outstanding first quarter. We started our fiscal year off strong and are doing an excellent job of executing on the three-year strategic plan. The summer months are the busiest inside the store and our team met guest expectations extremely well. Our merchandising plan for the summer was executed at a high level throughout the organization.

謝謝，史蒂夫。我要感謝整個凱西團隊在第一季的出色表現。我們的財政年度開局強勁，並且在執行三年戰略計劃方面做得非常出色。夏季是商店最繁忙的時期，我們的團隊非常出色地滿足了客人的期望。我們的夏季行銷計劃在整個組織內都得到了高層執行。

From those that created the plan to those that the stores carry out the plan, to our supply chain and fuel teams and every team member in between. This team effort resulted in positive traffic to our stores and strong performance across the entire business.

從制定計劃的人到執行計劃的商店，再到我們的供應鏈和燃料團隊以及其間的每個團隊成員。團隊的努力為我們的商店帶來了積極的客流量，並促進了整個業務的強勁表現。

We also brought back our most popular LTO with the Barbecue Brisket Pizza and whole pies were a growth driver for the category. Using guest insights and data gathered from our nearly 9.5 million Casey's Rewards members helps us get the right products on the shelves at competitive prices for our guests. All of this resulted in strong same-store results that were primarily driven by positive units in traffic.

我們也重新推出了最受歡迎的 LTO 產品——燒烤牛腩披薩，而整塊餡餅則是該類別的成長動力。利用從近 950 萬 Casey's Rewards 會員收集的客戶洞察和數據，我們可以為客戶以具有競爭力的價格提供合適的產品。所有這些都帶來了強勁的同店業績，這主要得益於積極的客流量。

At the pump, we continue to gain market share as our same-store gallons growth outpaced OPIS data in our region. We believe our robust inside offering and competitive fuel pricing gives guests reasons for Casey's to be the one-stop shop for prepared food, grocery items and fuel.

在加油站，我們的同店加侖數成長超過了我們所在地區的 OPIS 數據，因此我們的市佔率持續成長。我們相信，我們豐富的內部產品和具有競爭力的燃油價格讓客人有理由選擇 Casey's 作為購買熟食、雜貨和燃油的一站式商店。

Overall, we're extremely excited about the Casey's business model and have high confidence in our ability to carry this momentum into the future. We will now take your questions.

總的來說，我們對 Casey 的商業模式感到非常興奮，並且對我們未來保持這一勢頭的能力充滿信心。我們現在將回答大家的提問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Pooran Sharma, Stephens Inc.

Pooran Sharma，Stephens Inc.

Good morning and congrats on the strong quarter here. Thanks, guys. Yes, I just want to start off with maybe understanding these costs. You mentioned they're slightly favorable versus the prior year. Was just maybe wondering if you could help us unpack that benefit a little bit. And if you could help us understand how much of your needs you have booked for the year?

早安，恭喜本季業績強勁。謝謝大家。是的，我只是想先了解這些成本。您提到它們與去年相比略有改善。我只是想知道您是否能幫助我們稍微解釋一下這個好處。您能否幫助我們了解您今年預訂了多少需求？

Pooran, you kind of broke up on that question. Could you repeat that, please?

Pooran，你在這個問題上有點崩潰了。你再說一遍，好嗎？

Yeah. Just wondering if you could help us unpack the benefit from lower cheese cost and help us understand how much of your needs you have booked for the year.

是的。只是想知道您是否可以幫助我們了解降低起司成本的好處，並幫助我們了解您今年預訂了多少需求。

Yeah. So in the quarter, it was obviously really close to prior year. I mean we were a little less than 10 basis points difference on a year-over-year basis from a cheese cost perspective. As we sit here today, we are about 70%, locked on our forward cheese requirements for the remainder of this fiscal year. So Q2, Q3 and Q4 are all right around 70% locked.

是的。因此，本季的情況顯然與去年同期非常接近。我的意思是，從起司成本的角度來看，我們與去年同期相比的差異略小於 10 個基點。今天，當我們坐在這裡時，我們已經鎖定了本財年剩餘時間的起司需求的 70% 左右。因此 Q2、Q3 和 Q4 的鎖定率都在 70% 左右。

And we only lock if we can lock at a comparable or generally slightly favorable rates on a year-over-year basis. And so we feel pretty good about the certainty of cheese costs going forward. And with the 30% of the strip that's open for us in the second quarter, and the 70% we have hedged. That's why we're sitting here today, we're just a little bit ahead on a year-over-year basis.

而且，只有當我們能夠鎖定與去年同期相當或總體略微有利的利率時，我們才會鎖定。因此，我們對未來起司成本的確定性感到非常滿意。我們在第二季開放了 30% 的開採權，另外 70% 的開採權我們已經對沖。這就是我們今天坐在這裡的原因，與去年同期相比，我們只是稍微領先了一點。

Okay. I appreciate that color there. And I just wanted to understand kind of the strength behind the fuel business. I mean, you mentioned it in your prepared comments, you're outpacing the region. You have a strong offering that drives traffic inside the store. But maybe I was wondering if you could talk about Fuel 3.0 last quarter, I think you said about 3% of your supply was coming in from this initiative. So I was wondering if you could provide us with an update on that initiative?

好的。我很欣賞那裡的顏色。我只是想了解燃料業務背後的實力。我的意思是，您在準備好的評論中提到過，您已經超越了該地區。您擁有強大的產品，可以吸引店內客流。但也許我想知道您是否可以談談上個季度的 Fuel 3.0，我想您說過大約 3% 的供應來自這項計劃。所以我想知道您是否可以向我們提供有關該計劃的最新資訊？

Yeah, Pooran. With respect to Fuel 3.0, we continue to procure more of our fuel through that vehicle. For the combined business, it's about 8.8% of our total fuel procured and I would say that the majority of that is coming from the Fikes acquisition. As you recall, there's a fuel terminal we picked up, and they have been shipping fuel like this for a while. So the bulk of it is there. We're about 3% of our fuel on the base business is being procured through Fuel 3.0. So making good progress. The team is still integrating, but we like what we see so far on that.

是的，普蘭。關於 Fuel 3.0，我們繼續透過該車輛採購更多的燃料。就合併後的業務而言，這約占我們採購燃料總量的 8.8%，我想說其中大部分來自對 Fikes 的收購。你們還記得嗎，我們接手了一個燃料終端，他們已經像這樣運輸燃料有一段時間了。所以大部分都在那裡。我們基礎業務中約有3%的燃料是透過燃料3.0採購的。進展良好。團隊仍在整合中，但我們對目前看到的情況感到滿意。

Chuck Cerankosky, Northcoast Research.

查克‧塞蘭科斯基 (Chuck Cerankosky)，Northcoast Research。

Good morning, everyone. Great quarter. Could you go into a little more detail on price versus volume in store, please? You mentioned bakery, but how about some of the other categories?

大家早安。很棒的一個季度。您能否更詳細地介紹一下店內價格與銷售量的關係？您提到了麵包店，但其他類別呢？

Well, just overall, Chuck, we have about 1.5% in traffic increase and then about 3% coming from price overall. So that will get you to roughly your 4.5%. The majority of that price is coming through the tobacco category with cigarettes. And so that has been our practice for years, as those manufacturers pass on cost increases, we pass this on to the guest, and that's what's driving the tobacco side of it.

嗯，查克，總體而言，我們的流量增加了約 1.5%，而整體價格上漲了約 3%。這樣你的收益率大約是達到 4.5%。該價格的大部分來自煙草類別，即香煙。這是我們多年來的做法，當製造商轉嫁成本增加時，我們會將其轉嫁給客人，這就是推動菸草業發展的動力。

Outside of that, there's very modest price increases at all in the quarter. And a little bit on candy, just passing on cost increases but very little. And really, what we're seeing is more units purchased in the basket, which is really helping to drive the sales as well.

除此之外，本季的價格漲幅非常小。糖果方面也有一些，只是轉嫁了成本增加，但很少。事實上，我們看到購物籃中的商品購買量增加，這也確實有助於推動銷售。

Darren, would that increase in units be true for both prepared foods and the grocery/merchandise?

達倫，對於預製食品和雜貨/商品來說，單位數量的增加是否真實存在？

Yeah, it is. It is, Chuck. I mean, more so in the prepared foods than in the grocery, but I mean, we're seeing really good strength in non-alcoholic beverages in the grocery category and in snacks as well.

是的。是的，查克。我的意思是，預製食品比雜貨更是如此，但我的意思是，我們看到雜貨類別中的非酒精飲料和零食也表現出色。

Thanks a lot. Have a great rest of the year.

多謝。祝您今年餘下的時間過得愉快。

Chuck Grom, Gordon Haskett.

查克·格羅姆、戈登·哈斯凱特。

Hey, thanks. Great quarter. I was wondering if you could just speak to the overall health of your consumer across income cohorts, any incremental evidence of trade down. And then regionally, seeing the note in the border stores, Texas region?

嘿，謝謝。很棒的一個季度。我想知道您是否可以談談不同收入群體的消費者整體健康狀況，以及是否有任何消費下降的增量證據。然後從地區來看，看到邊境商店的紙條了嗎，德州地區？

Yeah. I'll first talk about guest strength from an income cohort standpoint. For the rewards members that we have, where we can really track their behavior and have full visibility, we're really seeing relatively strong performance across all income cohorts. And the way we break that down is $50,000 or less in income, 50 to 100 and then everybody above 100.

是的。我先從收入群體的角度來談談客人實力。對於我們擁有的獎勵會員，我們可以真正追蹤他們的行為並獲得全面的了解，我們確實看到所有收入群體的表現都相對強勁。我們的細分方法是：收入 50,000 美元或以下，50 至 100 美元，然後是 100 美元以上的所有人。

And so the lower income group, that $50,000 under, are still shopping the stores and still buying at a fairly healthy clip, just not as much as the other income cohorts, about 160 basis points lower than the higher income cohorts, but still coming to the store, still buying. And really, where we're seeing the most strength inside of that is in our Prepared Foods business.

因此，收入低於 50,000 美元的低收入群體仍然在商店購物，並且購買速度相當快，只是不如其他收入群體那麼多，比高收入群體低約 160 個基點，但仍然會來商店購物。事實上，我們認為其中最強大的是我們的預製食品業務。

I think that value proposition for the quantity and quality of the food that you're getting is really resonating with that group as well as the others. Probably on the other side, the category most pressured by lower income consumer is cigarettes. But again, our cigarette mix is lower than most of the industry. So I think we're a bit insulated from that perspective.

我認為，您所獲得的食物的數量和質量的價值主張確實引起了該群體以及其他群體的共鳴。可能另一方面，受低收入消費者壓力最大的類別是香菸。但我們的香菸成分比業內大多數公司都要低。所以我認為從這個角度來看我們有點孤立。

(multiple speakers) originally?

（多位發言者）最初？

Yeah, you asked about the Texas stores. There's a little bit more pressure down there than there is with the base business. But keep in mind also, those CEFCO stores are still CEFCO stores right now. They're not Casey's stores.

是的，您詢問的是德克薩斯州的商店。與基礎業務相比，那裡的壓力要大一些。但也請記住，那些 CEFCO 商店現在仍然是 CEFCO 商店。它們不是 Casey 的商店。

We've converted three proof-of-concept stores, but we haven't converted anything else. So they don't have the food proposition that we have in our base business. And so as we start to remodel those stores, we'll start to change the trajectory of that -- those businesses, but it's a -- it's under a bit more pressure than our base business at the moment.

我們已經轉換了三個概念驗證商店，但是我們還沒有轉換任何其他東西。因此他們沒有我們基礎業務中所擁有的食品主張。因此，當我們開始改造這些商店時，我們將開始改變這些業務的發展軌跡，但目前它面臨的壓力比我們的基礎業務更大。

Okay. I appreciate that. And then my follow-up question is just on the CEFCO business, the drag on the prepared foods line. In particular, I believe in the back half of last year, it was around 150, 160 basis points, you called out about 110 basis points this quarter, which is a really nice improvement. Can we dive into that? What are you guys making progress on? And how should we think about that drag on the total business in the coming quarters?

好的。我很感激。我的後續問題是關於 CEFCO 業務以及對預製食品生產線的拖累。具體來說，我相信去年下半年，利率大約是 150、160 個基點，而本季利率大約是 110 個基點，這是一個非常好的進步。我們可以深入探討一下嗎？你們在哪些方面取得了進展？我們該如何看待未來幾季對整體業務的拖累？

Yeah. We've made a few adjustments to the assortment, really just kind of some basic stuff, just clean up some things where maybe some items weren't selling very well, so we've eliminated those items. And so that's definitely helped. They've adopted a little bit more of our promotional approach, not 100% yet because they don't have all the assortment. But we're evolving in that direction.

是的。我們對商品組合做了一些調整，實際上只是一些基本的東西，只是清理了一些可能賣得不太好的東西，所以我們已經淘汰了這些商品。所以這肯定有幫助。他們採用了我們的一些促銷方式，但尚未完全採用，因為他們還沒有提供所有的商品類型。但我們正朝著這個方向發展。

And so we're starting to see a little bit of benefit. We won't see the biggest benefit until we convert the kitchens and start selling the full assortment. So at the moment, their prepared foods business runs at a margin rate just slightly greater than half of the margin rate of a Casey's store. So there's going to be that drag until we get those stores converted and fully up to speed.

因此我們開始看到一點好處。除非我們改造廚房並開始銷售全套產品，否則我們不會看到最大的利益。因此，目前，他們的預製食品業務的利潤率僅略高於 Casey 商店利潤率的一半。因此，在我們完成這些商店的轉型並完全跟上步伐之前，這種拖累將一直存在。

And just as a reminder, realistically, we don't expect significant synergy capture from remodeling the stores until a year plus from now, and that's a function of just timing of us being able to get permitting and construction, et cetera, finished.

需要提醒的是，實際上，我們預計要到一年多以後才能從商店改造中獲得顯著的協同效應，而這只是取決於我們能否獲得許可和完成施工等工作的時間。

Bobby Griffin, Raymond James.

鮑比·格里芬、雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions and a great start to the fiscal year. I guess, Darren, first, I just wanted to maybe touch on the wings test, if there's anything more you can share there? I know you guys are still in kind of very early learnings, but we touched on it last quarter. Just curious, anything incremental over the last couple of months.

嘿，大家好。感謝您回答這些問題，祝福新財年有個好的開始。我想，達倫，首先，我只是想談談機翼測試，您還有什麼可以分享的嗎？我知道你們仍處於早期學習階段，但我們上個季度已經討論過這個問題。只是好奇，過去幾個月有進展嗎？

Not too much. I mean the team is definitely working on it. And we're taking the approach on this that we have with a lot of other product innovations. And I think it's worked to our benefit is that we'll continue to work it, continue to evolve it until we get it right, and it will roll out when it's ready to roll out.

不算太多。我的意思是團隊肯定正在努力解決這個問題。我們對此採取的方法與許多其他產品創新的方法相同。我認為這對我們有利，我們會繼續努力，繼續改進，直到我們做對為止，並在準備推出時推出。

And so we've identified a few opportunities with some flavor profiles, with some builds. We're still tweaking some equipment needs, but we like what we're seeing. We're making progress. And as soon as we feel confident, we have it completely dialed in, that's when we'll start to expand.

因此，我們透過一些風味特徵和一些構造發現了一些機會。我們仍在調整一些設備需求，但我們對目前的情況感到滿意。我們正在取得進展。一旦我們感到有信心，我們就會完全做好準備，那時我們就會開始擴張。

Fair enough. And I appreciate those details. And then I guess, secondly, it does seem the last couple of quarters, the core prepared food business out of Casey's has really found some nice momentum on the margin side, enough so that you can offset the Fikes dilution. Can you maybe unpack that a little bit more? I mean, I think you guys mentioned Fikes is a 110-basis point drag.

很公平。我很欣賞這些細節。其次，我想，最近幾個季度，Casey's 的核心預製食品業務在利潤率方面確實找到了一些良好的發展勢頭，足以抵消 Fikes 的稀釋。能再進一步解釋一下嗎？我的意思是，我認為你們提到 Fikes 是一個 110 個基點的拖累。

So it implies the core was up nicely. How much is left there? And kind of what do you think that -- does that create a better pricing opportunity for you guys to even push harder on competition? Or how do you think about that if this core margin improvement is sustainable?

所以這意味著核心已經很好了。還剩下多少？您認為這是否會為您創造更好的定價機會，從而進一步推動競爭？或者您如何看待核心利潤率的提升是否可持續？

Yeah. Our -- with our prepared food margin, I think we've got a couple of things. One is we've made some progress on the procurement side from a cost of goods standpoint. So that certainly helped particularly on dispensed beverages. The -- I think the other big piece of it is the acceleration of our whole pie business.

是的。我們的—憑藉我們的預製食品利潤，我認為我們已經得到了一些東西。一是從商品成本的角度來看，我們在採購上取得了一些進展。因此，這無疑對分配飲料特別有幫助。我認為另一個重要因素是整個餡餅業務的加速發展。

Our whole pie business is the largest -- or the highest margin subcategory within prepared foods, and it's the largest. And so when that sorts to grow, everything gets better in our prepared food business when that's growing, and that's what we're experiencing right now. So we like what we see in moving to that momentum to continue.

我們的整個餡餅業務是最大的——或者說是預製食品中利潤最高的子類別，而且它是最大的。因此，當這種成長趨勢持續下去時，我們的預製食品業務就會變得更好，而這就是我們現在所經歷的。因此，我們很高興看到這種勢頭能夠持續下去。

Anthony Bonadio, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的安東尼·博納迪奧。

Yeah. Hey, guys, good morning. Thanks for taking our question. So just to dig in a little bit on that earlier fuel question. A lot of your peers are sort of struggling to just try to water on fuel gross profit dollars. And you guys managed to grow both same-store gallons and fuel margins with the Fikes headwind in there. So can you just talk a little bit more about what you think is driving that dispersion and then what you're seeing out there competitively, just given some of the commentary we're hearing from your peers.

是的。嘿，大家早安。感謝您回答我們的問題。因此，我們來深入探討一下先前的燃料問題。許多同行都在努力嘗試透過燃料來賺取毛利。儘管面對 Fikes 的逆風，你們還是成功提高了同店汽油銷售和燃油利潤率。那麼，您能否再多談一下您認為導致這種分散的原因，以及根據我們從您的同行那裡聽到的一些評論，您所看到的競爭狀況。

Yeah. I'd say there's really three things that we think are helping out our fuel volume. The first is really our prepared foods offer. And as we talked about before, Anthony, you fill up your tank once a week or so, but you need 3, 4, 5 times a day. And I think with our food proposition really resonating with people, it's driving more traffic to the stores. We just simply have more shots on goal. From a fuel standpoint, once you're already on the lot than perhaps some of our competitors do.

是的。我想說，我們認為有三件事確實有助於提高我們的燃料產量。首先是我們提供的實際熟食。正如我們之前談到的，安東尼，你大約每週加滿一次油箱，但每天需要加 3、4、5 次。我認為我們的食品主張確實引起了人們的共鳴，從而為商店帶來了更多的客流量。我們只是有更多的射門機會。從燃料的角度來看，一旦你進入停車場，我們的一些競爭對手可能就會這樣做。

The second piece is our value perception. And in the research we do with our Guest Insights team we ask guests to compare us to our largest competitors, we score the highest on offering low prices and on good value for the money. And so I think there's a perception, people are coming to the store anyway for prepared foods, but we also have a great value perception overall with the store.

第二部分是我們的價值觀。在我們與客戶洞察團隊進行的研究中，我們要求客人將我們與最大的競爭對手進行比較，我們在提供低價和物有所值方面得分最高。所以我認為人們無論如何都會來商店購買熟食，但我們對商店的整體價值也有很高的看法。

So there's not a lot of incentive to go shopping around for fuel price and great credit to our fuel team over the last number of years, they've been able to very consistently execute our pricing strategy. And so over time, just build some confidence around the idea that we're always going to be competitively priced.

因此，人們沒有太多動力去貨比三家，這要歸功於我們的燃料團隊，他們在過去幾年裡一直能夠非常一致地執行我們的定價策略。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們就會建立一些信心，相信我們的價格總是具有競爭力。

If you're already at the store anyway and you know we're going to be competitively priced, there's just not a good reason to shop around. And so I think that consistency has helped our fuel business. And it -- and we haven't had to get overly aggressive from a margin standpoint because we've been always competitive and consistently so.

如果您已經來到商店並且知道我們的價格具有競爭力，那麼就沒有理由再貨比三家了。所以我認為這種一致性對我們的燃料業務有幫助。而且 — — 從利潤率的角度來看，我們不必過於激進，因為我們始終保持競爭力。

Michael Montani, Evercore ISI.

邁克爾·蒙塔尼，Evercore ISI。

Yes, hi, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. Just wanted to ask a two-parter. First off, I was wondering if you could comment a little bit about the M&A backdrop that you're seeing out there, both in terms of smaller deals and then also potentially the larger kind of 50-plus store deals. So that was one thing.

是的，你好，早安。感謝您回答這個問題。只是想問一個兩個部分的問題。首先，我想知道您是否可以對您所看到的併購背景進行一些評論，包括小型交易以及潛在的 50 多家商店的大型交易。這是一件事。

And then the other one was just on seasonality. I understand you don't want to update the full year guide, but in the past, 2Q earnings power is usually pretty similar to 1Q and then you get maybe a 40%, 50% step down in the back half of the year. So just wanted to understand if there's any puts or takes on the timing side or otherwise, we need to keep in mind when we're thinking about kind of the sequential earnings cadence through the year?

另一個是關於季節性的。我知道您不想更新全年指南，但過去，第二季度的盈利能力通常與第一季非常相似，然後在下半年可能會下降 40% 或 50%。所以只是想了解一下，當我們考慮全年的連續獲利節奏時，我們在時間方面是否有任何需要注意的地方？

Alright, Michael, with respect to M&A, and I'll let Steve talk about seasonality, but on the M&A front, I would say on the small deal M&A, it's kind of business as usual. Our team is out in the market. we're seeing a lot of interest from sellers. We think that's a good environment. I'd say it's nothing different than normal.

好的，邁克爾，關於併購，我會讓史蒂夫談論季節性，但在併購方面，我想說，在小額交易併購方面，這是一種正常的業務。我們的團隊正在市場上工作。我們看到很多賣家感興趣。我們認為這是一個良好的環境。我想說這和正常情況沒什麼不同。

On the larger deal M&A, we're having some conversations with folks. We haven't had anything active at the moment, but we're in the market, and we'll see how things evolve as we get through the year.

關於更大規模的併購交易，我們正在與一些人進行對話。我們目前還沒有任何活躍的舉措，但我們已經進入市場，我們將觀察今年的情況如何發展。

And on the seasonality, no changes in our view of kind of how seasonality works, and we believe that by the time we get to the second order -- second quarter earnings call, we've got visibility really the first seven months of the year at that point. And I think those are seven of the eight largest pots we have in our fiscal year, and it just allows us to have a pretty high degree of confidence dialing in a refined view of the full year.

至於季節性，我們對季節性如何發揮作用的看法沒有變化，我們相信，當我們進入第二季的收益電話會議時，我們實際上已經能夠看到今年前七個月的情況。我認為這是我們財政年度八大資金池中的七個，這讓我們對全年的精細化展望有相當高的信心。

So we feel like we've had a good start for sure, to the beginning of this year, but we've got a lot of work in front of us and a long way to go. And so we'll stick with the play that we feel so far around kind of managing expectations.

因此，我們覺得今年年初我們肯定有一個好的開始，但我們面前還有很多工作要做，還有很長的路要走。因此，我們將堅持我們目前認為的管理預期的做法。

Bonnie Herzog, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的邦妮·赫爾佐格。

Hi, thank you, good morning, everyone. Maybe just a quick follow-up on this topic just in terms of phasing because I you guys mentioned previously that you expected this fiscal year to be more second half weighted given the timing of the Fikes acquisitions. So I'm just thinking about in the context, the strength in Q1. First, love to hear how the quarter came in maybe relative to your internal expectations? And then I guess if it was a little bit stronger, does it suggest maybe some conservatism to your guidance this year?

嗨，謝謝大家，大家早安。也許只是就分階段而言對這個話題進行快速跟進，因為你們之前提到過，考慮到 Fikes 收購的時間，你們預計本財年下半年的權重會更大。所以我只是在考慮背景，第一季的實力。首先，想聽聽本季的業績與您的內部預期相比如何？然後我想，如果它稍微強一點，是否顯示你今年的指導有些保守？

Well, Bonnie, what I'd tell you is I kind of reiterate what Steve said, we had a great first quarter. We think we're off to a good start from August results we just shared and we'll update everybody at the end of second quarter when we have a little bit more visibility into the balance of the year.

好吧，邦妮，我想告訴你的是，我重申史蒂夫所說的話，我們第一季表現得非常好。我們認為，從我們剛剛分享的八月份業績來看，我們已經取得了良好的開端，我們將在第二季末向大家通報最新情況，屆時我們將對今年的收支平衡有更清晰的了解。

I mean, the one thing I would reiterate, Bonnie, is that the seasonality dynamic has not changed, I mean as far as I know business. I do think I'd reiterate for body the way the comping on a year-over-year basis, right, Fikes heavily influences that, right? So we're going to have big total changes in the first half of the year because we didn't have hikes in the comparable period.

我的意思是，邦妮，我要重申的一件事是，就我所知，季節性動態並沒有改變。我確實認為我會重申身體逐年增長的方式，對吧，Fikes 對此有很大影響，對吧？因此，今年上半年我們將出現整體大幅變化，因為同期我們沒有升息。

But if you get to the second half of the year, we obviously have Fikes in that prior year period. And so the total change numbers will look a little bit different because it's just not quite as stark of a difference, and that has not changed from any of our guidance expectations at it.

但如果到了下半年，我們顯然會在去年同期看到 Fikes。因此，整體變化數字看起來會有點不同，因為差異並不那麼明顯，而且與我們的任何指導預期相比都沒有變化。

Okay. And then just one other quick question on promos. You did mention that, that really helped drive traffic and strength inside the store in the quarter. So could you maybe quantify your spend levels this quarter versus the prior quarter than maybe year-over-year? I guess I'm just hoping to understand maybe how much your promo spend has increased either sequentially or year-over-year? Thank you.

好的。然後還有一個關於促銷的簡短問題。您確實提到過，這確實有助於推動本季店內的客流量和實力。那麼，您能否量化本季與上一季以及去年同期相比的支出水準？我想我只是希望了解您的促銷支出環比或同比增加了多少？謝謝。

Yeah. Well, I guess the first thing I would point out is a large amount of the promotional activity that you see in a store from us is in conjunction with our vendor partners, right? And so BOGOs and that sort of thing are very often funded completely or at least partially certainly within the grocery category by our vendor partners.

是的。好吧，我想我要指出的第一件事是，您在我們商店看到的大量促銷活動都是與我們的供應商合作夥伴共同開展的，對嗎？因此，買一送一 (BOGO) 和類似活動通常全部或至少部分由我們的供應商合作夥伴資助，當然是在食品雜貨類別中。

And so that spend per se doesn't show up directly in our financials. The absolute level of promotion for sure, has continued to increase as the absolute level of business and the number of stores that we have has increased. But the majority of the promotional spending is really not directly being funded by the company.

因此，支出本身不會直接反映在我們的財務狀況中。隨著業務的絕對水準和商店數量的增加，促銷的絕對水準肯定也在持續增加。但大部分促銷支出其實並非由公司直接資助。

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital Markets.

凱利·巴尼亞 (Kelly Bania)，BMO 資本市場。

Good morning. Thanks for taking our questions. Just wanted to go back to CEFCO now coming up almost on a year, I guess, 10 months. And just curious if there's any more learnings that you can share or even refinements to that original plan for the $45 million in synergies. It sounds like there's some very basic changes that you've been able to make on the inside of the store that's helping margins. But just as you kind of step back big picture, and can you give us a little more color about how CESCO stores are comping and the competitive environment that they're facing.

早安.感謝您回答我們的問題。我只是想回到 CEFCO，現在快一年了，我想，10 個月了。我只是好奇您是否還有更多經驗可以分享，或對最初的 4500 萬美元協同效應計劃進行改進。聽起來您已經對商店內部進行了一些非常基本的改變，這有助於提高利潤率。但是，正如您退一步看待全局一樣，您能否向我們詳細介紹 CESCO 商店的競爭情況以及它們所面臨的競爭環境。

Yeah. I would say that broadly speaking, Kelly, that the CEFCO integration is on track with what we expected. And I think we've described earlier in the early stages of really any integration. This one's no different. We expect to get more synergy early on from fuel and in this case, some G&A synergies because we acquired the entire the entire business for the back office and that sort of thing.

是的。凱利，我想說，從廣義上講，CEFCO 的整合正在按照我們的預期進行。我認為我們之前已經描述過任何整合的早期階段。這個也沒什麼不同。我們希望儘早從燃料業務中獲得更多協同效應，在這種情況下，我們會獲得一些 G&A 協同效應，因為我們收購了整個後台業務和諸如此類的東西。

And that is tracking as we would have expected. But the biggest synergies come from putting our prepared foods in and to get that done, we have to remodel stores and put kitchens in. And so there's a longer lead time on that. We really having gotten that work started in earnest yet, but the team is fully engaged on developing those plans and getting those permits executed so that we can begin that work. But I would say, generally speaking, that it's on track.

這與我們的預期一致。但最大的協同效應來自於投放我們的預製食品，為了實現這一點，我們必須改造商店並設立廚房。因此，這方面的準備時間較長。我們實際上已經認真地開始了這項工作，但團隊正全力製定這些計劃並執行這些許可，以便我們可以開始這項工作。但我想說，總體而言，一切都在按計劃進行。

In terms of how we're comping with, there's a lot of noise in those numbers. There are some changes in behavior have occurred as we've taken over the operation, particularly on the fuel side, you may recall that they had one person pricing fuel for the entire company, that was our CEO and so we're probably taking a little different approach on that.

就我們如何應對而言，這些數字中存在著許多噪音。在我們接管營運後，行為上發生了一些變化，特別是在燃料方面，你可能還記得，他們有一個人為整個公司定價燃料，那就是我們的首席執行官，所以我們可能對此採取了稍微不同的方法。

And so we're seeing some different results, both on the volume and margin side. So there's puts and takes to that. But I think overall, it's working as we would expect. And as we start the actual integrations and conversions, we're confident that, that performance will accelerate. Steve, do you have anything you want to add to that?

因此，我們看到了一些不同的結果，無論是在數量方面還是在利潤方面。因此，這其中存在著利弊。但我認為總體而言，它正在按照我們預期的方式發揮作用。當我們開始實際的整合和轉換時，我們相信效能將會加速。史蒂夫，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

I think we're sitting here today, we're ahead on fuel for the reasons Darren said expectations were ahead on SG&A from what we had originally set out. I think $45 million is still a good number. But I think we feel very good that the prospects once we remodel the kitchens. We probably will land the plane above that. But because the bulk of the synergies are coming from kitchens, we really haven't started too soon to provide a different number.

我認為我們今天坐在這裡，我們的燃料支出領先於達倫所說的原因，銷售、一般及行政費用的預期高於我們最初設定的水平。我認為 4500 萬美元仍然是一個不錯的數字。但我認為，一旦我們改造了廚房，前景就會變得非常好。我們可能會讓飛機降落在該高度以上。但由於大部分協同效應來自廚房，我們實際上還沒有開始提供不同的數字。

Jacob Aiken-Phillips, Melius Research.

Jacob Aiken-Phillips，Melius Research。

Hi, good morning. So I wanted to start with thinking about store growth like in the outer years past the three-year target and especially in the context of there's some larger public competitors making some bigger acquisitions as well as some private players with good prepared food offerings, kind of aggressively expanding geographically.

嗨，早安。因此，我想先考慮一下門市成長，例如在三年目標之後的幾年裡，特別是在一些較大的公共競爭對手進行更大規模的收購以及一些提供優質熟食的私營企業積極進行地域擴張的背景下。

So is there -- sorry, Jake. Was there a question in there?

所以是這樣的——對不起，傑克。這裡面有什麼問題嗎？

How should we think about store growth in like outer years in the context of the competition and like where you'll expand geographically?

在競爭的背景下，我們應該如何看待未來幾年門市的成長以及您將在哪些地區進行擴張？

Yeah. With respect to store growth broadly, I mean, we haven't obviously issued our next three-year plan, which we will do in June of next year, and so we'll share those numbers. But if I step back, our fundamental growth algorithm is trying to drive 8% to 10% EBITDA growth and to get to that 8%. We typically get half of that from growing the base business through all of our merchandising and operational initiatives and then half of that through store growth, so think about 4%-to-5%-unit growth per year.

是的。關於門市成長的整體情況，我的意思是，我們顯然還沒有發布下一個三年計劃，我們將在明年 6 月發布該計劃，因此我們將分享這些數字。但如果我退一步來看，我們的基本成長演算法是試圖推動 8% 至 10% 的 EBITDA 成長並達到 8%。我們通常透過所有商品銷售和營運計劃來增加基礎業務，從而獲得一半的收入，然後透過門市成長獲得另一半的收入，因此每年的單位成長率約為 4% 至 5%。

About half of that will come from NTIs that we build and source the real estate for and the other half directionally comes from M&A, typically small deal M&A. We don't typically build in any sort of assumptions on larger scale M&A because those are more opportunistic as sellers become sellers.

其中大約一半來自我們為其建造和購買房地產的 NTI，另一半則定向來自併購，通常是小額交易併購。我們通常不會對更大規模的併購做出任何假設，因為當賣家成為賣家時，這些假設更具機會性。

So that's how I would think about it more broadly. Our geography that we operate in today can support a large number of new stores in it. There's a lot of towns and a lot of white space that do not have Casey's that would benefit from one. So we see a really unlimited runway for unit development, just within our geography, let alone in the adjacent states to that.

這就是我對此的更廣泛思考。我們目前經營的地理位置可以支持大量新店的開幕。許多城鎮和空白地區沒有凱西餐廳，而這些地方都可以從中受益。因此，我們看到，僅在我們的地理範圍內，單位開發的空間就無限大，更不用說在鄰近的州了。

Got it. And then -- so you've been pretty explicit advanced marketing Casey's against QSRs. So both on valuation and on just like innovation. So how do you measure success on the front? And then what KPIs should we be looking at to track or gauge the progress there?

知道了。然後 — — 所以你已經非常明確地針對 QSR 進行了 Casey 的高級行銷。因此，無論是在估值還是在創新方面。那麼你如何衡量前線的成功？那麼我們應該關注哪些 KPI 來追蹤或衡量進度呢？

To me, success would be looking at how our same-store sales performance measures up to theirs. And I would say, even more specifically on prepared food and defense beverage and if you look at this quarter as an example, we were up 5.6% same-store or a little over 10% two-year stack, I think that compares really favorably -- and that's in prepared foods, that compares really favorably to just about any QSR or pizza concept that's out there that we have visibility to. So I would say that to the consistency of our results and the absolute magnitude of them would put us in pretty good shape right now relative to those peers.

對我來說，成功就是看我們的同店銷售業績與他們的相比如何。我想說，更具體地說，在預製食品和國防飲料方面，如果以本季度為例，我們的同店銷售額增長了 5.6%，或者說兩年累計銷售額增長了 10% 多一點，我認為這確實很有優勢——而且這是在預製食品領域，與我們所知的任何 QSR 或披薩概念相比，這確實很有優勢。因此我想說，由於我們的業績一致性和絕對量級，我們現在相對於那些同行而言處於相當良好的狀態。

Corey Tarlowe, Jefferies.

科里‧塔洛 (Corey Tarlowe)，傑富瑞 (Jefferies)。

Great, thanks. And I guess, Darren and Steve I wanted to ask about the grocery and general merchandise category. What's driving the growth? I'm assuming energy drinks is helping. And then second, on the margin for the category, I think this is the best gross margin that you've had for the category in a really long time in the first quarter. Could you talk a little bit about the drivers of that?

太好了，謝謝。我想，達倫和史蒂夫，我想問雜貨和日用百貨類別。是什麼推動了成長？我認為能量飲料有幫助。其次，關於該類別的利潤率，我認為這是第一季該類別很長一段時間以來的最佳毛利率。能否稍微談談其驅動因素？

And maybe what helped, what -- as we think about what's ahead, maybe what stays in and what comes out? Any color you could provide there would be really helpful. Thanks so much.

也許什麼有幫助，什麼——當我們思考未來時，也許什麼會留下來，什麼會出現？您提供的任何顏色都會非常有幫助。非常感謝。

Yeah, Corey. Yeah, I would say growth driver in grocery and general merchandise has clearly been non-alcoholic beverages. That's been the strongest growth area, a little over 8%. There's some puts and takes on the rest, modest increases here and there. But I would say that is the big driver.

是的，科里。是的，我想說雜貨和日用百貨的成長動力顯然是非酒精飲料。這是成長最強勁的領域，增幅略高於 8%。其餘部分則有一些調整和減少，偶爾會有小幅上漲。但我想說，這是最大的驅動力。

And as you mentioned, energy drinks being the strongest contributor to that grocery or to the non-alcoholic beverage growth. Really from a margin standpoint, there's two things going on. I think our team has done a great job in terms of joint business planning and keeping cost of goods in check and managing retail pricing. And so we've had good margin management there. But you also have a mix dynamic.

正如您所說，能量飲料是食品雜貨或非酒精飲料成長的最大貢獻者。實際上，從利潤率的角度來看，有兩件事正在發生。我認為我們的團隊在聯合業務規劃、控製商品成本和管理零售價格方面做得非常出色。因此我們的利潤管理很好。但你也有一個混合動態。

It's really having an impact. And so if you think about what's going on the tobacco category or nicotine overall, that mix is dropping. It's about 130 basis points lower this year than it was last year from a mix perspective. But the margin is increasing as the share of combustible cigarettes goes down and the share of nic-alternatives goes up. So you're seeing a little bit higher margin, although on a lower mix.

它確實產生了影響。因此，如果您考慮一下煙草類別或尼古丁的整體情況，您會發現這種混合正在下降。從組合角度來看，今年的利率比去年低了約 130 個基點。但隨著可燃香菸份額的下降和尼古丁替代品份額的上升，利潤率正在增加。因此，儘管組合較低，但利潤率還是會略有提高。

Then you go to non-alcoholic beverages, which is the highest margin subcategory inside of Grocery and General Merchandise that about -- had about 120 basis point improvement in margin rate, but it's also growing in share by about 120 basis points. So you combine those two and you're just seeing a natural inflation of the margin just via the mix. So that's really what's going on there.

然後讓我們來看看非酒精飲料，它是食品雜貨和日用百貨中利潤率最高的子類別，其利潤率提高了約 120 個基點，但其份額也增長了約 120 個基點。因此，將這兩者結合起來，您將看到利潤率透過這種混合而自然膨脹。原來那裡確實有發生過這樣的事情。

Got it. That's really helpful. Is there any way to put into context maybe what that could look like more going forward for the gross margin for that category (multiple speakers) Should we expect to expect something close to 36%. I mean the category has historically been in the low 30s. So I'm just curious how do you think about the trajectory there? Thanks so much.

知道了。這真的很有幫助。有什麼方法可以說明該類別未來的毛利率會是什麼樣子嗎（多位發言者）我們是否應該預期接近 36%。我的意思是，這個類別的歷史水準一直在 30 出頭。所以我只是好奇您如何看待那裡的軌跡？非常感謝。

Yeah, I'd be careful of doing that, right? I'd remind you what we're not trying to optimize the margin of either grocery or prepared food. We're trying to deliver the best inside the store gross profit velocity outcome that we can. And so we -- at times we'll lean into grocery to help provide something in prepared foods or vice versa.

是的，我會小心做這件事，對吧？我想提醒你，我們並不是想優化食品雜貨或熟食的利潤。我們正在盡力實現店內毛利速度的最佳結果。因此，我們有時會依靠食品雜貨來幫助提供一些預製食品，反之亦然。

And it may make a lot more sense for us to reinvest excess margin, as an example, for -- from a grocery momentum into something that drives more prepared food units because that's the highest margin stuff we have in the store. And so I'd just be real cautious about trying to define kind of the end point of where margins are because we're trying to manage the whole thing and improve inside margin and inside gross profit velocity in total.

對我們來說，將多餘的利潤重新投資到可以推動更多熟食單位成長的領域可能更有意義，因為這是我們商店中利潤最高的產品。因此，我會非常謹慎地嘗試定義利潤率的終點，因為我們正試圖管理整個事情並提高內部利潤率和內部毛利速度。

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to Mr. Rebelez for closing remarks.

謝謝。目前沒有其他問題。我想將電話轉回給雷貝萊茲先生，請他做最後發言。

Great. Thank you for taking time today to join us on our call. Before we go, I want to once again express my gratitude to our team members for all their hard work this quarter. Have a great rest of the week.

偉大的。感謝您今天抽空參加我們的電話會議。在我們離開之前，我想再次向我們的團隊成員本季的辛勤工作表示感謝。祝您本週剩餘時間過得愉快。

Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. Good day.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。再會。