Caseys General Stores Inc (CASY) 2026 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Casey's General Stores fourth quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

各位好，感謝您耐心等候。歡迎參加 Casey's General Stores 2026 會計年度第四季財報電話會議。(接線員指示) 請注意，今天的會議將被錄音。

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

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人——投資人關係與業務發展資深副總裁 Brian Johnson。請開始。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss the results from our fourth quarter and fiscal year ended April 30, 2026. I am Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development. With me today are Darren Rebelez, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and 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.

各位早安，感謝各位加入我們，一同討論截至 2026 年 4 月 30 日止第四季及會計年度的業績。我是 Brian Johnson，投資人關係與業務發展資深副總裁。今天與我一同出席的有：董事長、總裁兼執行長 Darren Rebelez，以及財務長 Steve Bramlage。在開始之前，我要提醒各位，我們在本次投資人電話會議中所作的某些陳述，可能構成 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法》所定義的前瞻性陳述。

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任何與 Fikes 交易之潛在影響、對未來期間的預期、可能或假設的未來營運結果、財務狀況、流動性及相關資金來源或需求、公司的供應鏈、業務與整合策略、計畫與協同效益、成長機會，以及我們門市的表現等相關的陳述。

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.

存在多項已知與未知的風險、不確定性及其他因素，可能導致我們的實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述所明示或暗示的任何未來結果出現重大差異，包括但不限於：近期收購案的整合、我們執行策略計畫或實現策略計畫效益的能力、產油地區衝突及其相關政府行動的影響與持續時間，以及其他風險、不確定性與因素；上述內容已在我們最近提交給 SEC 並可於公司網站查閱的 Form 10-K 年度報告與 Form 10-Q 季度報告中說明。

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

本次電話會議中所作的任何前瞻性陳述，均反映我們截至今日對未來事件的當前看法；Casey's 不承擔亦無意因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而更新或修訂任何前瞻性陳述的任何意圖或義務。本次電話會議所提及之非 GAAP 與 GAAP 財務衡量指標的調節表，以及第四季營業費用增加的詳細拆解，可於我們網站 www.caseys.com 的 Investor Relations（投資人關係）連結下查閱。

With that said, I would now like to turn the call over to Darren to discuss our fourth quarter and fiscal year results. Darren?

接下來，我想把電話會議交給 Darren，請他說明我們第四季及會計年度的業績。Darren？

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. Before we dive into our strong results for the year, I would like to take a moment to highlight some of the great work Casey's is doing in the communities we serve. Our purpose here is to make life better for our guests and communities every day. It's not just something we say. It's truly something our team members live out every day.

謝謝你，Brian，各位早安。在我們深入討論今年的亮眼成果之前，我想先花一點時間強調 Casey's 在我們所服務社區中所做的一些出色工作。我們的宗旨是每天讓顧客與社區的生活更美好。這不只是口號。這確實是我們的團隊成員每天身體力行的事。

This fiscal year, with the support of our guests, team members and partners, Casey's contributed more than $8 million toward our strategic giving priorities of education, hunger relief and support for community servants, including first responders, military veterans and their families.

本會計年度，在顧客、團隊成員與合作夥伴的支持下，Casey's 依據我們在教育、飢餓救助以及支持社區服務人員（包括第一線應變人員、退伍軍人及其家庭）等策略性捐助重點，捐助金額超過 800 萬美元。

Through our Cash for Classrooms program, schools and educational organizations across our footprint received 100 grants totaling $1.3 million. In support of hunger relief, more than 10 million meals were provided to local food banks through our Feeding America campaign and through our work with military nonprofit partners, we helped support more than 2,000 veterans and their families. This impact was made possible because of the dedication of our 50,000 team members, the generosity of our guests and the support of our partners. All of us here at Casey's are proud of how we keep showing up for our communities, and I want to thank everyone who played a role this past year.

透過我們的 Cash for Classrooms 計畫，我們營運版圖內的學校與教育組織共獲得 100 筆補助金，總額達 130 萬美元。在支持飢餓救助方面，透過我們的 Feeding America 活動，我們為在地食物銀行提供了超過 1,000 萬份餐食；同時，透過與軍方非營利合作夥伴的合作，我們協助支持了超過 2,000 名退伍軍人及其家庭。這些影響之所以能夠實現，仰賴我們 50,000 名團隊成員的投入、顧客的慷慨以及合作夥伴的支持。Casey's 的每一位同仁都以我們持續為社區挺身而出而感到自豪，我也要感謝過去一年中每一位參與其中的人。

Now let's discuss the results for this past fiscal year. We had an outstanding fiscal '26 that achieved the highest ever diluted earnings per share, finishing at $19.16 and net income of $714 million, both representing a 31% increase over the prior year. The company also generated nearly $1.5 billion in EBITDA, its highest ever, an increase of 23% from the prior year. Inside the store, the growth was impressive. Total inside sales grew 10.2% during the year, while inside same-store sales were up 4.2% or 7% on a two-year stack basis.

現在讓我們來討論剛結束的會計年度業績。我們在 2026 會計年度表現卓越，創下歷史最高的稀釋每股盈餘，達到 19.16 美元，淨利為 7.14 億美元，兩者皆較前一年成長 31%。公司亦創下接近 15 億美元的 EBITDA（息稅折舊攤銷前利潤）新高，較前一年增加 23%。在店內業務方面，成長同樣令人印象深刻。全年店內總銷售額成長 10.2%，而店內同店銷售成長 4.2%；若以兩年疊加基礎計算則成長 7%。

Total prepared food and dispensed beverage sales grew 10.2% and same-store sales were up 5.2% or 8.8% on a two-year stack basis.

即食食品與現調飲料的總銷售額成長 10.2%，同店銷售成長 5.2%；若以兩年疊加基礎計算則成長 8.8%。

Total grocery and general merchandise sales were up 10.1% and same-store sales grew 3.9% or 6.2% on a two-year stack basis. Whole pizzas and nonalcoholic beverages helped drive the strong results during the year. Inside margin expanded 70 basis points year-over-year to 42.2% as our merchants have done a tremendous job working with our vendor partners to get the right products on the shelves while maintaining a strong value proposition for our guests. This remarkable performance inside the store is a testament to our team. Over the course of the fiscal year, we launched successful LTOs, expanded our specialty pizza menu, introduced a new frozen carbonated beverage platform and finished our wing test and started scaling.

雜貨與一般商品的總銷售額成長 10.1%，同店銷售成長 3.9%；若以兩年疊加基礎計算則成長 6.2%。整顆披薩與非酒精飲料帶動了全年強勁的成果。店內毛利率年增 70 個基點至 42.2%；我們的商品團隊與供應商夥伴密切合作，在維持對顧客具吸引力的價值主張同時，將合適的產品上架，表現非常出色。店內如此亮眼的表現，證明了我們團隊的實力。在整個會計年度中，我們推出成功的 LTO（限時優惠）、擴充特色披薩菜單、導入新的冷凍碳酸飲料平台，並完成雞翅測試並開始擴大推廣。

We also partnered with Monster on a Red, White and Blue Razz flavor that was sold almost exclusively at Casey's from late January to early May. This product, celebrating America's 250th anniversary, resonated extremely well with guests and was a top seller in the energy category throughout the quarter. It also helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hope For The Warriors and the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundations, two causes that we are passionate about here at Casey's. At the pump, fuel gross profit was up 21%, with total fuel gallons sold up 10% and fuel margin averaging $0.426 per gallon over the course of the year. The capabilities our fuel team has developed over the past several years, helped us excel during a time of uncertainty and volatility.

我們也與 Monster 合作推出 Red, White and Blue Razz 口味，該產品自 1 月下旬至 5 月上旬幾乎僅在 Casey's 獨家販售。這項產品用以慶祝美國 250 週年紀念，深受顧客喜愛，並在本季期間成為能量飲料品類的暢銷商品之一。它也協助為 Hope For The Warriors 與 Children of Fallen Patriots Foundations 兩個基金會募得數十萬美元；這兩項公益是我們 Casey's 非常重視的。在加油站方面，燃油毛利成長 21%，燃油總銷量（加侖數）成長 10%，全年燃油毛利率平均為每加侖 0.426 美元。我們燃油團隊在過去數年所建立的能力，協助我們在充滿不確定性與波動的時期仍能表現出色。

Our operations team continues to run the stores efficiently. For the year, same-store operating expenses, excluding credit card fees, were up only 3.7% for the year, impacted favorably by a reduction of same-store labor hours of 0.2%. At the same time, guest satisfaction and team member engagement were at or near all-time highs as we continue to view operational excellence and store simplification efforts through the lens of our team members and guests. Our fiscal '26 results illustrate the durability and strength of Casey's advantaged business model, and we're confident in our ability to deliver results in a variety of economic climates.

我們的營運團隊持續高效率地管理門市。全年同店營運費用（不含信用卡手續費）僅成長 3.7%，其中同店工時下降 0.2% 帶來正面影響。同時，顧客滿意度與團隊成員投入度處於或接近歷史高點；我們持續以團隊成員與顧客的角度來看待營運卓越與門市簡化的各項努力。我們 2026 會計年度的成果展現了 Casey's 具優勢的商業模式之韌性與實力，我們也有信心在各種經濟環境下交出成果。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Steve to discuss the fourth quarter and our outlook for [fiscal '26]. Steve?

我現在想把電話會議交給 Steve，請他討論第四季以及我們對[會計年度'26]的展望。Steve？

Thank you, Darren, and good morning. Prior to going over the financials, I'd also like to thank the team for their hard work and their dedication throughout the year. The incredible financial results for the quarter and the full year are a function of the entire organization working together and executing at a very high level. The results that we are delivering are not easy to achieve.

謝謝你，Darren，大家早安。在開始說明財務數據之前，我也想感謝團隊在這一年中的辛勤付出與投入奉獻。本季與全年令人驚豔的財務成果，來自整個組織同心協力、以極高水準執行。我們所交出的成果並不容易達成。

Now on to the great financial figures for the fourth quarter. Diluted earnings per share was $4.37. That is a 66% increase from the prior year. Total inside sales rose 7.4% from the prior year to over $1.5 billion with an average margin of 42.4%, which resulted in total inside gross profit dollars up $61 million or 10.5% from the prior year. Total prepared food and dispensed beverage sales rose by $36 million to $428 million.

接著來看第四季優異的財務數字。稀釋後每股盈餘為4.37美元，較去年同期成長66%。店內銷售總額較去年同期成長7.4%至超過15億美元，平均毛利率為42.4%，使店內毛利總額較去年同期增加6,100萬美元（或10.5%）。即食食品與現調飲料銷售總額增加3,600萬美元至4.28億美元。

That's an increase of 9.2% and total grocery and general merchandise sales increased by $68 million to $1.09 billion, an increase of 6.7%. Same-store prepared food and dispensed beverage sales were up 6.6% for the quarter. The average margin for the quarter was 59.5%. That's up 170 basis points from a year ago.

這代表成長9.2%；雜貨與一般商品銷售總額增加6,800萬美元至10.9億美元，成長6.7%。同店即食食品與現調飲料銷售本季成長6.6%。本季平均毛利率為59.5%。較一年前提高170個基點。

Whole pizzas and appetizers and sides performed well in the quarter. Improved waste was the primary driver of margin improvement and a lower LIFO charge also favorably impacted margins. Cheese costs were down $0.06 per pound from the prior year to $2 even, which had an approximate 15 basis point benefit to margin. Same-store grocery and general merchandise sales were up 5.1%, and the average margin was 35.7%. That's an increase of 90 basis points from the same period last year.

整份披薩以及開胃菜與配菜在本季表現良好。廢棄損耗改善是毛利率提升的主要驅動因素，而較低的LIFO費用也對毛利率帶來正面影響。起司成本較去年同期每磅下降0.06美元至2.00美元，約為毛利率帶來15個基點的助益。同店雜貨與一般商品銷售成長5.1%，平均毛利率為35.7%。較去年同期提高90個基點。

Sales were particularly strong in nonalcoholic beverages, specifically energy drinks. Margin expansion was primarily driven by cost of goods management, while product mix, notably nicotine and nicotine alternatives also had a favorable impact.

非酒精飲料的銷售特別強勁，尤其是能量飲料。毛利率擴張主要來自商品成本管理，而產品組合（特別是尼古丁與尼古丁替代品）也帶來正面影響。

During the fourth quarter, same-store fuel gallons sold were up 1.5% with a fuel margin of $0.469 per gallon. That is up approximately $0.093 per gallon compared to the prior year. Retail fuel sales were up $446 million in the fourth quarter, due primarily to a 14.1% increase in the average retail price from $2.98 to $3.40, along with a 3.6% increase in the total gallons sold to 848 million, which also contributed. We believe the flywheel of our unparalleled inside offering paired with competitive fuel prices is helping our comps, both at the pump and inside the store.

第四季同店燃油銷售加侖數成長1.5%，燃油毛利為每加侖0.469美元。較去年同期約增加每加侖0.093美元。第四季零售燃油銷售額增加4.46億美元，主要因平均零售價格上升14.1%（由2.98美元升至3.40美元），同時總銷售加侖數也增加3.6%至8.48億加侖，亦有貢獻。我們相信，我們無可匹敵的店內商品力搭配具競爭力的燃油價格所形成的飛輪效應，正同時帶動加油站端與店內端的同店表現。

Total operating expenses were up 10.1% or $67 million in the fourth quarter. Approximately 2% of the total OpEx increase is due to operating 40 more stores than in the prior year. Same-store employee expense accounted for approximately 1.5% of the increase due primarily to increases in labor rates as same-store labor hours were roughly flat. Same-store credit card fees contributed approximately 1% of the increase due to the higher retail prices of fuel. Higher performance-based variable incentive compensation and discretionary charitable contributions contributed to approximately 4% of the increase.

第四季營運費用總額增加10.1%（或6,700萬美元）。營運費用增加中約有2%是因為較去年同期多營運40家門市。同店員工費用約占增加的1.5%，主要因工資率上升，而同店工時大致持平。同店信用卡手續費約占增加的1%，係因燃油零售價格較高所致。較高的績效連動變動獎酬以及酌情慈善捐款，約占增加的4%。

Net interest expense in the quarter was $21.7 million. That's down $6 million from the prior year. Depreciation in the quarter was $115.5 million, and that's up $8.1 million versus prior year, primarily due to operating more stores. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 23.7% compared to 23% in prior year, and that's due to an increase in unfavorable permanent differences. Net income was up versus the prior year to $162.7 million.

本季淨利息費用為2,170萬美元。較去年同期減少600萬美元。本季折舊費用為1.155億美元，較去年同期增加810萬美元，主要因營運門市數增加。本季有效稅率為23.7%，去年同期為23%，主要因不利的永久性差異增加。淨利較去年同期增加至1.627億美元。

That is an increase of 65.5%. EBITDA for the quarter was $350.3 million, an increase of 33.2%. Our balance sheet remains in excellent condition, and we have ample financial flexibility.

增幅為65.5%。本季EBITDA為3.503億美元，增加33.2%。我們的資產負債表仍維持極佳狀態，且具備充足的財務彈性。

On April 30, we had total available liquidity of $1.4 billion. Also, our debt-to-EBITDA ratio as calculated under the terms of our credit facilities was 1.5 times. For the quarter, net cash generated by operating activities of $398 million, less purchases of PP&E of $191 million resulted in the company generating $207 million in free cash flow. This brought our total free cash flow generation for the fiscal year to $722 million. This is inclusive of an approximate $100 million cash tax benefit related to capital spending over the course of the fiscal year from the One Big Beautiful Bill.

截至4月30日，我們可用流動性總額為14億美元。此外，依照我們信貸融資條款計算的負債對EBITDA比率為1.5倍。本季營運活動產生的淨現金流為3.98億美元，扣除購置不動產、廠房及設備（PP&E）1.91億美元後，公司產生2.07億美元自由現金流。使本會計年度自由現金流總額達7.22億美元。其中包含約1億美元的現金稅務利益，係本會計年度資本支出所帶來，源自《One Big Beautiful Bill》。

Return on invested capital for the fiscal year finished at 12.7%. That's up 120 basis points from the prior year, and this represents the highest return on invested capital achieved since a tax-aided 2018.

本會計年度投入資本報酬率（ROIC）為12.7%。較去年同期提高120個基點，並創下自2018年（受稅務利益助益）以來最高的投入資本報酬率。

At the June meeting, the Board of Directors voted to increase the dividend to $0.65 per share. That is a 14% increase, marking the 27th consecutive year that the dividend has been increased. During the quarter, we repurchased approximately $63 million of shares, and the Board also expanded the existing share repurchase program up to a total amount of $1 billion. We anticipate approximately $200 million in share repurchases in fiscal '27. And furthermore, we're providing an outlook as follows for fiscal '27.

在6月的會議上，董事會投票決議將股利提高至每股0.65美元。這是14%的增幅，並且是連續第27年調升股利。本季我們回購約6,300萬美元的股票，董事會也將既有的股票回購計畫擴大至總額上限10億美元。我們預期在會計年度'27約回購2億美元股票。此外，我們對會計年度'27提供以下展望。

The company expects inside same-store sales to increase 2% to 5% with an inside margin above 42%.

公司預期店內同店銷售將成長2%至5%，且店內毛利率高於42%。

The company expects same-store fuel gallons sold to be between negative 1% to positive 1%. Total operating expenses are expected to increase approximately 5% to 7%. And the company expects EBITDA to increase between 8% to 10%, which would imply a 35% increase on a two-year stack basis at the midpoint of the range. We expect to open at least 120 stores in fiscal 2027 through an even mix of M&A and new store construction. Net interest expense is expected to be approximately $95 million.

公司預期同店燃油銷售加侖數介於-1%至+1%。營運費用總額預期增加約5%至7%。公司預期EBITDA成長8%至10%，以區間中點計算，兩年疊加基礎上意味著成長35%。我們預期在會計年度2027至少開設120家門市，並以併購（M&A）與新店建置各半的方式達成。淨利息費用預期約為9,500萬美元。

D&A is expected to be approximately $490 million and the purchase of PP&E is expected to be approximately $800 million.

折舊與攤銷（D&A）預期約為4.90億美元，而購置PP&E預期約為8.00億美元。

Please note, this is inclusive of the cost of converting the majority of the CEFCO stores to Casey's. The tax rate is expected to be approximately 24% to 26% for the year. Now consistent with our prior practice, we are not guiding to a fuel margin CPG nor are we providing earnings per share. However, for modeling purposes only, the FY '27 EBITDA outlook is based on a mid-$0.40s per gallon fuel margin, combined with the other points of guidance. Our May experience was as follows: inside same-store sales, same-store gallons sold and fuel CPG margin are all consistent with achieving the annual guidance.

請注意，以上包含將多數CEFCO門市轉換為Casey's的成本。全年稅率預期約為24%至26%。依照我們以往的做法，我們不提供燃油毛利（CPG）的指引，也不提供每股盈餘。然而，僅供建模之用，FY '27的EBITDA展望係以每加侖0.40多美元區間中段的燃油毛利為基礎，並結合其他指引要點。我們5月的實際表現如下：店內同店銷售、同店加侖數銷售以及燃油CPG毛利率，皆與達成全年指引一致。

Current cheese costs are modestly favorable versus the prior year, and we expect first quarter operating expense to be up high-single digits, partially attributable to higher credit card fees due to the higher retail prices of fuel.

目前起司成本相較去年略為有利，我們預期第一季營業費用將年增高個位數後段，部分原因可歸因於燃油零售價格較高所導致的信用卡手續費上升。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Darren.

接下來，我把電話交回給 Darren。

Thanks, Steve. I would like to again express my gratitude and congratulate the entire Casey's team for delivering another record year. Their hard work and dedication executing our 3-year strategic plan was impressive and it showed up in our exceptional financial results. In June of 2023, we laid out a plan that had 3 pillars: accelerate the food business, grow the number of units and enhance operational efficiency. We've now completed that plan, and I'm extremely proud of the growth of the organization as well as meeting and exceeding our financial goals.

謝謝你，Steve。我想再次表達我的感謝，並恭喜整個 Casey's 團隊再度締造創紀錄的一年。他們在執行我們三年策略計畫上的辛勤付出與投入令人印象深刻，也反映在我們卓越的財務成果上。在 2023 年 6 月，我們提出一項包含三大支柱的計畫：加速餐食業務、擴增門市數量，以及提升營運效率。我們現在已完成該計畫，我對組織的成長以及達成並超越我們的財務目標感到非常自豪。

Over the course of the plan, we added Thin Crust Pizza, several pizza LTOs, including three regional offerings and an expanded specialty pizza menu. In addition to pizza, we revamped our hot sandwich lineup, created a new fryer platform with sauced wings and crispy fries and launched 2 new beverage platforms with Darn Good Coffee and our frozen carbonated product, FROSTBITE. For this summer, we recently brought back a familiar favorite, Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza and made it even better by pairing it with Casey's Fries. And our sauced wings were sold at nearly 850 stores by the end of the fourth quarter. Despite lapping our largest store growth year in company history in fiscal 2025, we opened 80 stores with 40 acquisitions and 40 new builds in fiscal 2026.

在該計畫期間，我們新增了薄皮披薩（Thin Crust Pizza）、多款披薩限時供應（LTO），包含三項區域性產品，並擴充了特色披薩菜單。除披薩外，我們也重新打造熱三明治產品線，建立新的油炸平台，推出醬汁雞翅與酥脆薯條，並推出兩個新的飲品平台：Darn Good Coffee 與我們的冷凍碳酸產品 FROSTBITE。今年夏天，我們最近帶回了熟悉的人氣商品「培根起司漢堡披薩」（Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza），並搭配 Casey's 薯條讓它更上一層樓。而截至第四季末，我們的醬汁雞翅已在將近 850 家門市販售。儘管在 2025 財年我們剛經歷公司史上門市成長最大的一年，2026 財年我們仍開出 80 家門市，其中 40 家為併購、40 家為新建。

We were able to do this while converting 50 CEFCO stores to Casey's, bringing our synergies to those sites. This brought our three-year total to over 500 new units, which well exceeded our original 350-unit goal. While adding and remodeling a substantial number of stores, we continued our commitment to operating the business more efficiently. Through continuous improvement, we have done a great job identifying opportunity areas to make the stores more efficient while improving overall guest satisfaction with strong team member engagement. Over the course of the past three years, we reduced same-store labor hours by approximately 5%, while also improving turnover by more than 70 percentage points.

我們也在此同時完成 50 家 CEFCO 門市轉換為 Casey's，將協同效益帶入這些據點。使我們三年合計新增門市超過 500 家，遠高於原先 350 家的目標。在新增與翻新大量門市的同時，我們也持續致力於以更高效率營運業務。透過持續改善，我們在辨識提升門市效率的機會領域方面做得非常出色，同時在團隊成員高度投入下提升整體顧客滿意度。在過去三年期間，我們將同店工時約降低 5%，同時也將人員流動率改善超過 70 個百分點。

As we closed out our three-year strategic plan, I want to reiterate how proud I am of the work we've accomplished and grateful for the amazing team we have in place. On behalf of the Casey's team, we're all excited to share with you our plan for the next three years on June 24 in New York City. We love the hand we're holding, and we look forward to continuing the momentum.

在我們結束三年策略計畫之際，我想再次強調我對我們所完成工作的自豪，以及對我們現有這支優秀團隊的感激。我代表 Casey's 團隊，我們都很期待在 6 月 24 日於紐約市與各位分享未來三年的計畫。我們很喜歡目前手上的牌，也期待延續這股動能。

With that, we will now take your questions.

接下來我們將開始回答各位的提問。

(Operator Instructions)

(接線員指示)

Bobby Griffin, Raymond James.

Bobby Griffin，Raymond James。

Congrats on capping off an impressive three-year plan, Darren and team. My first question, Darren, is on the fuel side of the business and more of a high-level question. Just has in your view, is the historical relationship we're used to between higher RBOB prices and higher oil prices and fuel margin compression just broken down more over the last, call it, a few years. And I guess I'm just asking this in the context that in the quarter, RBOB went up over $1.50, and you guys still reported the highest record CPG margin in Casey's history. And even when you look back versus that time of Russia-Ukraine, it still was materially better off outsized gains.

恭喜 Darren 與團隊完成一個令人印象深刻的三年計畫。我第一個問題，Darren，是關於燃油業務，屬於較高層次的問題。就你看來，我們過去習慣的歷史關係——RBOB 價格上升、油價上升，以及燃油毛利率（CPG）被擠壓——在過去幾年是否更明顯地被打破了？我之所以這樣問，是因為本季 RBOB 上漲超過 1.50 美元，而你們仍公布了 Casey's 歷史上最高的 CPG 毛利。即使回頭看俄烏戰爭那段期間，表現仍明顯更好、獲得超額增益。

So just any thoughts there on have the dynamics in the industry and the cost pressures just changed a relationship that maybe us on Wall Street were kind of used to being a little bit more firm with higher oil versus compression in CPG?

所以想請教你對此有何看法：產業動態與成本壓力是否已改變了這種關係？也就是我們華爾街過去認為油價上升就會導致 CPG 毛利被擠壓、且關係相對穩固的那種情況？

Yeah, Bobby, it's a good question. I don't know that it's fundamentally changed for the industry. I do think it did play out a little bit differently this quarter than maybe we've experienced historically. And what I mean by that is there's a lot of volatility in that path from where we started when the conflict started up to today. And so it wasn't a smooth increase going up like we've experienced before.

是的，Bobby，這是個好問題。我不確定這對整個產業而言是否有根本性的改變。但我確實認為，本季的發展方式與我們過去的歷史經驗相比有些不同。我的意思是，從衝突爆發時我們所處的位置到今天，這段路徑中存在很大的波動。因此它並不是像我們以前經歷過的那樣平順地一路上升。

There's a lot of choppiness. And I think, generally speaking, as a retailer, we don't like to change those prices as frequently as maybe the dynamics on the ground or the wholesale cost was changing. And so when you hold those prices somewhat flat and then it drops for a little bit, you make some -- your margin widens out for a moment in time and then it spikes back up and it gets compressed.

波動非常劇烈。而我認為，一般而言，作為零售商，我們不太喜歡像現場動態或批發成本變動那樣頻繁地調整零售價格。因此當你把價格在某種程度上維持不變，而批發成本短暫下滑時，你的毛利會在一段時間內擴大；接著成本又突然飆升，毛利就會被壓縮。

So I think it was just a little bit more volatile on the way up relative to the experience we had in the past, and that enabled us to capture a bit more margin than we might have otherwise done.

所以我認為，相較於過去的經驗，這次上行過程的波動更大，而這讓我們得以捕捉到比原本可能更多一些的毛利。

Krisztina Katai, Deutsche Bank.

Krisztina Katai，德意志銀行。

Congrats on a really strong finish to the year. I wanted to ask you guys on the inside margin progression, right? When we look at Prepared Food margin, it was, I think, the best margin in 5 years that you have seen. Also on the grocery side, we continue to see really strong performance. So I wanted to get your views on how do you view the durability of that?

恭喜今年以非常強勁的表現收官。我想請教你們關於店內毛利率的走勢。我們看到即食餐食（Prepared Food）毛利率，我認為是你們五年來最好的水準。另外在雜貨（grocery）端，我們也持續看到非常強勁的表現。因此我想了解你們如何看待這種表現的持久性？

Like how much of what you were seeing in the fourth quarter is repeatable? And I know on the Prepared Food side, you said reduced waste was the biggest driver. So can you just speak to how much opportunity there still from an expansion perspective? And then just on the Grocery side, like how are you guys viewing volume versus price? If you could touch on those dynamics?

例如第四季看到的狀況有多少是可重複的？我知道在即食餐食方面，你們提到降低浪費是最大的驅動因素。那能否談談從擴張角度來看，這方面還有多少提升空間？另外在雜貨端，你們如何看待銷量與價格之間的關係？能否也請你們談談這些動態？

Yeah. This is Steve. I'll maybe take a shot at that. I think broadly on margins, there are clearly some structural tailwinds that are helping us that we would expect to continue certainly on the grocery side of the business. If I start there, right, we've mentioned now for more than several quarters, the mix shift that is benefiting us in the grocery categories.

好的。我是 Steve。我來嘗試回答。我認為就毛利率而言，確實有一些結構性的順風在支持我們，且我們預期這些因素會持續存在，尤其是在雜貨業務方面。如果先從雜貨談起，我們已經連續好幾季提到，雜貨品類的組合轉變正在對我們有利。

Nicotine is probably the single biggest contributor to that. So as combustible cigarettes generally continue to decline as a portion of that mix replaced by nicotine alternatives, that is a very accretive margin switch for us and for, frankly, any retailer.

尼古丁品類可能是其中最大的單一貢獻者。因此，隨著可燃式香菸在組合中的占比持續下降、並被尼古丁替代品取代，這對我們——坦白說對任何零售商——都是一個非常有利的毛利結構轉換。

Our position of having leaned in early and disproportionately with some of the changes we made in our back bar planograms and creating more space for nicotine alternatives and shrinking space for cigarettes for the first time really ever, has given us, I think, a structural advantage in the marketing of those products. And so I do think that is going to continue to accrete for us generally. To a lesser extent, but still real, the shift within the nonalcoholic beverage category. So energy drinks have been the star performer for us for a while in that part of the store. And those are a higher margin category than other things in that nonalcoholic category.

我們早期且相對更大幅度地投入，包含我們在後吧台（back bar）陳列規劃（planograms）所做的一些調整，為尼古丁替代品創造更多空間，並且可說是首次真正縮減香菸的陳列空間，這讓我們在這些產品的行銷上具備我認為的結構性優勢。因此我確實認為，這將在整體上持續為我們帶來毛利增益。另外一個影響較小但仍然存在的因素，是非酒精飲料品類內部的結構轉變。能量飲料在我們店內該區域已經是表現最亮眼的品類一段時間了。而能量飲料的毛利率也高於該非酒精品類中的其他產品。

And so as they continue to outperform, that will also naturally accrete up.

因此，隨著它們持續優於預期，這也會自然地帶來增益。

Finally, within the center store and grocery, our investment in our liquor assortment and the footprint and the competitive advantage we have with, I think, over 1,500 liquor licenses allow us to have a much broader assortment in that category. And within the alcohol category writ large, liquor is going to be margin accretive for us certainly relative to beer. So we feel good about structural tailwind on the Grocery side of the business. And the Prepared Food side of the business is more commodity oriented, right?

最後，在便利商店核心與雜貨方面，我們對酒類品項組合與店內陳列面積的投資，以及我們擁有我認為超過1,500張酒類執照所帶來的競爭優勢，使我們在該品類能提供更廣泛的商品組合。而在整體酒精飲料品類中，相較於啤酒，烈酒對我們的毛利率肯定更具增益。因此，我們對雜貨業務端的結構性順風感到樂觀。而即食食品業務端則更偏向大宗商品導向，對吧？

So we're a little bit more subject to what's happening in the market. And so certainly, the fall in cheese costs was a modest benefit for us this year that can give and take away equally. The waste progress we've made has very much been self-help. I think we feel we have more opportunity there. But Prepared Food is going to be more sensitive to commodity cycles.

所以我們會比較受到市場變化的影響。因此，起司成本下滑今年對我們是小幅利多，但同樣也可能隨時反向影響。我們在減少耗損方面取得的進展，很大程度上是自助改善（self-help）的成果。我認為我們在那裡還有更多機會。但即食食品將會對大宗商品循環更為敏感。

And certainly, as we continue to lean into new products in there and mix that category a little differently as wings grow and pizza velocity accelerates, certainly, pizza velocity will be accretive to that category also.

而且，隨著我們持續在該領域推出新產品，並以不同方式調整該品類的組合——例如雞翅成長、披薩銷售速度加快——披薩銷售速度也將對該品類帶來增益。

Edward Kelly, Wells Fargo.

Edward Kelly，富國銀行。

Let me add my congrats to a great quarter. I wanted to ask you about momentum in the business and the cadence and what you're seeing from the consumer. Obviously, gallons and inside sales were strong despite higher gas prices. But can you talk about the cadence there, what you saw as you got into April, maybe more color around May? I'm just kind of curious if consumer behavior has really started to change at all related to this?

我也要恭喜你們交出一個很棒的季度。我想請教你們關於業務動能、節奏，以及你們從消費者端看到的情況。顯然，即使油價較高，加侖數與店內銷售仍然強勁。但你能談談這個節奏嗎？你們在進入4月時看到什麼，也許再多補充一些5月的細節？我只是有點好奇，消費者行為是否已經開始因為這些因素而出現任何變化？

And then more specifically, you gave a little bit of color around May. I'm just kind of curious if you could maybe expand upon how you were thinking about the guidance for the year in terms of the inside sales guide and the range, which I know is more typical for you, but I'm just curious as to sort of what the puts and takes were around that range.

另外更具體地說，你們對5月提供了一些說明。我想請你們也許可以再延伸談談，你們在思考全年指引時，對店內銷售指引與區間的看法——我知道這對你們來說比較典型——但我想了解一下，這個區間背後有哪些拉鋸因素（puts and takes）。

Yeah. I'll go ahead and talk a little bit about consumer. I'll let Steve talk about guidance. With respect to the consumer, I would say, overall, I think consumers are hanging in there. They're probably being a little more discerning about where they shop and how they spend their money.

好的。我先談一下消費者的部分。指引的部分我讓Steve來談。就消費者而言，我會說整體來看，我認為消費者還撐得住。他們可能在去哪裡購物、以及如何花錢方面更精打細算一些。

But we're seeing growth across all of the income cohorts. And the way we look at that is below $50,000 a year in income is low income, $50,000 to $100,000 a year is mid and above $100,000 is higher income. And I'd say that all three, we're seeing growth, a little bit less so in the lower income. The other two cohorts, which is three-fourth of our guest base are spending comparably to what they've been spending on. In terms of specific behaviors, really, we're not seeing a lot of change on the inside of the store.

但我們在所有收入族群都看到成長。我們的分類方式是：年收入低於50,000美元為低收入，50,000到100,000美元為中等收入，100,000美元以上為高收入。我會說這三個族群我們都看到成長，只是低收入族群的成長稍微少一些。另外兩個族群合計占我們顧客基礎的四分之三，他們的支出水準與過去相當。就具體行為而言，我們在店內端其實沒有看到太多變化。

We are seeing some change in fuel, but it's very minor. And it's all the things that we always talk about. If fuel prices get high, we start to see premium sales dip a little bit. We see sales of ethanol-blended fuel go up because it's a little cheaper. We see gallons per transaction drop a little bit.

我們在燃油方面看到一些變化，但幅度非常小。而且都是我們一直在談的那些現象。如果油價變高，我們會看到高階油品的銷售稍微下滑。我們會看到乙醇混合燃油的銷售上升，因為它便宜一些。我們會看到每筆交易的加侖數略微下降。

We see fuel transactions themselves go up because people are coming more frequently. So all of those dynamics are happening right now, but in low-single-digit percentages. So this is kind of very nuanced behaviors. The one thing that is a little bit new that we've seen is the gallons redeemed through our Casey's Rewards program were up 23% in the quarter. So people are clearly seeing value in our rewards program and leveraging those points to take some cents off a gallon for fuel.

我們會看到燃油交易筆數本身上升，因為人們來得更頻繁。所以這些動態現在都在發生，但幅度都在低個位數百分比。因此這些行為變化其實相當細微。有一件稍微新的事情是，我們看到透過Casey's Rewards獎勵計畫兌換的加侖數在本季成長了23%。所以人們顯然看到了我們獎勵計畫的價值，並運用那些點數在加油時每加侖折抵幾美分。

And that's making that fuel value proposition even stronger for Casey's and our guests. So Steve, I'll let you talk about the guidance.

這也讓Casey's對顧客的燃油價值主張更具吸引力。所以Steve，我把指引的部分交給你。

I think that when we put the guidance out there, we're trying to provide a range, at least as it relates to the inside and outside volumes where we feel we have really good prospects to land in the middle of that range for the course of the year. And so within May specifically, what we saw in May makes us feel very good about our ability to land in the middle of that annual range. So I think it's very consistent. And CPG, we provide the modeling guide to CPG just to sanity check everybody on what it takes to get within that range. And clearly, the margins broadly in the industry are strong at the moment.

我認為當我們提出指引時，我們試圖提供一個區間，至少就店內與店外的銷量而言，我們認為全年很有機會落在該區間的中位數。因此就5月而言，我們在5月看到的表現讓我們對全年落在該區間中位數的能力感到非常有信心。所以我認為這是非常一致的。而對於CPG（每加侖毛利），我們提供建模指引給CPG，主要是讓大家做合理性檢核，了解要達到該區間需要什麼條件。而且很明顯，目前整個產業的毛利率水準普遍偏強。

And so we feel good about our ability to achieve kind of that modeled number that's required to give the EBITDA range.

因此，我們對達成為了支撐EBITDA區間所需的那個建模數字的能力感到樂觀。

The one thing I would point out, if you just think of sequencing, right, the strength of the fourth quarter CPG number is great right now. It's obviously a difficult comp when we get to the fourth quarter of FY '27. And so we are taking that into account as we kind of think of sequencing. So we're strong CPGs as we sit here today, not necessarily assuming we will have equally strong year-over-year CPGs in the fourth quarter just because of the way the conflict has impacted things.

我想指出的一點是，如果你只從時序來看，對吧，目前第四季的CPG表現很強，這很好。但當我們到了FY '27的第四季時，這會是一個很難的比較基期。因此我們在思考時序安排時，已把這點納入考量。所以以我們今天所處的狀況來看，CPG很強，但我們並不一定假設在第四季仍會有同樣強勁的年對年CPG表現，因為衝突對市場的影響方式所致。

Jacob Aiken-Phillips, Melius Research.

Jacob Aiken-Phillips，Melius Research。

Congrats on the strong quarter and the strong results overall. I wanted to ask about wings. Just as you rolled it out more broadly, are you seeing that same incrementality across those markets as you did in the early test stores? And does it vary in any way by geography, store format, daypart, et cetera?

恭喜你們本季表現強勁、整體結果也很亮眼。我想問一下雞翅。當你們更廣泛地推廣之後，你們是否在那些市場看到與早期測試門店相同的增量效果？而且它是否會因地理區域、店型、時段（daypart）等因素而有所差異？

Yeah, Jacob, broadly speaking, the wings have performed very well for us so far. Again, it's very early stages. We were rolling out a lot of stores in the fourth quarter. So hard to pin down a lot of results to the overall P&L just from that one area. From a geographic standpoint, these are all being supplied out of our Ankeny distribution center.

是的，Jacob，整體而言，雞翅到目前為止對我們的表現非常好。再次強調，這還在非常早期的階段。我們在第四季推廣了很多門店。因此，很難僅從這一個領域就把很多結果明確反映到整體損益表上。從地理角度來看，這些門店的供應都來自我們位於Ankeny的配送中心。

So within that geographic range is where all the wing stores are. So it's pretty comparable geography. So not there's always a little bit of nuance between DMAs, but for the most part, fairly consistent. What we're really happy about was the goal was to try to create an incremental occasion per week, so to speak, and where you could get pizza and wings if you wanted to, but you could also -- the wings were good enough that they could stand alone as a separate order. And we are seeing some of that.

因此，所有販售雞翅的門店都在那個地理範圍內。所以地理條件相當可比。當然不同DMA之間總會有些細微差異，但大致上相當一致。我們真正感到高興的是，我們的目標是嘗試每週創造一個額外的消費情境（occasion），也就是說，你想要的話可以同時買披薩和雞翅，但同時——雞翅本身也夠好，好到可以單獨成為一筆獨立訂單。而我們確實看到了一些這樣的情況。

We're definitely seeing nice attachment with pizza, but we're also seeing guests order on their own. And what happens is when a guest orders wings on their own, they have increased their prepared food order frequency by 30%. So that's a really good fact pattern for us. We really like to see that trend, and we'll continue to try to reinforce that and grow that. But we're seeing the incrementality there.

我們確實看到披薩的搭配購買表現不錯，但我們也看到顧客會單獨下單。而當顧客單獨點雞翅時，他們的熟食（Prepared Food）下單頻率提高了30%。所以這對我們來說是一個非常好的事實依據。我們很樂見這個趨勢，並會持續嘗試強化並擴大它。但我們也看到了其中的增量效益。

Our pizza volume, whole pizza volume, where we're selling wings is still up high-single digits. So it is certainly not cannibalized at all, and it is adding a different occasion for our guests.

我們的披薩銷量、整個披薩的銷量，在我們販售雞翅的地點仍然維持高個位數成長。所以它完全沒有被蚕食，反而為顧客增加了不同的消費情境。

Pooran Sharma, Stephens Inc.

Pooran Sharma，Stephens Inc.

Congrats on posting extremely robust results here. I just wanted to maybe understand how you guys were thinking about approaching that $5 level in retail gas prices. I think on the last call, you mentioned that there were some specific actions that you may take if you get to that level. It seems like we're ticking closer to that level than we were on the last call. So maybe just wanted to get a broader update on just how you're feeling there.

恭喜你們公布了非常強勁的業績。我想了解一下，你們如何看待零售汽油價格接近每加侖5美元這個水準時的應對方式。我記得在上次電話會議中，你們提到如果到達那個水準，可能會採取一些特定行動。看起來我們現在比上次電話會議時更接近那個水準。所以想請你們更全面更新一下，你們目前對此的感受如何。

And then if you could also provide an update on how on you're hedging your cheese cost.

另外，也請你們更新一下你們如何對沖起司成本。

Yeah, Pooran, on with respect to the retail price of fuel, we have historically started to see a little bit of demand destruction as you get closer to that $5 a gallon range. We're sitting around the $4.20-ish average retail price right now. So we still have a ways to go. And when we look back to the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia war, we're if you take it on an inflation-adjusted basis, we're about $1 per gallon lower today as we sit here today than we were at the peak during that conflict. So I think we still have quite a ways to go before we start to get to where we might see some demand destruction.

好的，Pooran，關於燃料的零售價格，歷史上當價格接近每加侖5美元的區間時，我們確實開始看到一些需求被破壞（demand destruction）。目前我們的平均零售價格大約在4.20美元左右。所以距離那個水準還有一段路。而回顧烏克蘭—俄羅斯戰爭剛開始時，如果以通膨調整後的基礎來看，我們現在的每加侖價格大約比當時衝突高峰期低1美元。因此我認為，在我們開始看到可能出現需求破壞之前，還有相當大的距離。

And again, when we start to see that, you see some of those consumer behaviors.

而且同樣地，當我們開始看到那種情況時，你也會看到一些消費者行為的改變。

I'm not sure that there's much that we would do on our side to change the play we're running. We tend to price at the lower end of the competitive set as it is. And so we would certainly strive to maintain that posture in the marketplace. And we think, ultimately, in a higher price environment, that accrues to our benefit as we get more people coming to our stores versus somewhere else. But that's about all we would plan to do on the fuel side.

我不確定我們這邊會做很多事情來改變我們正在執行的策略。我們本來就傾向把價格訂在競爭組合的較低端。因此我們當然會努力在市場上維持這樣的定位。而我們認為，最終在較高價格的環境下，這反而對我們有利，因為會有更多人選擇來我們的門市而不是去別的地方。但在燃料這一塊，我們大概就只會這樣做。

Chuck Grom, Gordon Haskett.

Chuck Grom，Gordon Haskett。

On store growth, can you speak to the decision to accelerate growth and I guess, how this speaks to the acquisition opportunities that are out there and your opportunities to continue to consolidate stores?

關於門市成長，你能談談加速成長的決策嗎？以及我想，這如何反映目前市場上的併購機會，以及你們持續整併門市的機會？

Yeah, Chuck, I'll talk about the store growth for this year, and I'll let Steve talk about M&A opportunities. This, I guess I wouldn't necessarily characterize our target for this year is so much an acceleration over a course of time as it is an acceleration just versus prior year. And typically, our growth algorithm will call for about 4% new units every year, and that's what 120 new units gets us is right around that 4% range. It is an acceleration from last year. But last year, remember, we had just acquired the CEFCO chain, and so we are integrating that business.

好的，Chuck，我先談今年的門市成長，然後讓Steve談併購（M&A）機會。我想我不一定會把我們今年的目標描述為隨時間推進的加速，而是相較於前一年的加速。通常我們的成長演算法每年大約會新增4%的新店，而新增120家新店大約就落在4%這個區間。這確實比去年更快。但去年請記得，我們剛收購了CEFCO連鎖，因此我們正在整合那項業務。

And so we pulled back a little bit on new store growth to give our team a chance to absorb the CEFCO acquisition and start working on the remodel. So this is really more a timing and sequencing thing. So I would say the guidance for store growth for this year is much more getting back on track from a historic standpoint and really more consistent with our growth algorithm.

因此我們在新店成長上稍微放慢，讓團隊有時間消化CEFCO的收購並開始推動改裝。所以這其實更像是時點與排序的問題。因此我會說，今年的門市成長指引更像是從歷史角度回到正軌，並且更符合我們的成長演算法。

And as it relates to just forward visibility around kind of the M&A environment, I think we feel very bullish on it. I know we feel very bullish on it. As you know, there is a very long tail of small players in the industry. The majority of stores in the industry are owned by small players and a lot of those are under significant operational pressure beyond just kind of normal course generational change. And so I think the outreach that Brian leads for us here, I think we've -- we're contacting and having more conversations than we ever had.

至於對未來併購環境的能見度，我認為我們感到非常樂觀。我知道我們確實非常樂觀。如你所知，這個產業有很長的尾端由小型業者構成。產業中大多數門市由小型業者持有，而其中許多業者正承受顯著的營運壓力，不僅僅是一般的世代交替。因此我認為由Brian主導的對外接觸，我想我們——我們正在聯繫並進行的對話比以往任何時候都多。

I think there's a lot of receptivity to what Casey's can bring to an owner of a business as a steward of that business going forward. And I think we feel highly confident in broadly speaking, what's happening in the industry from a consolidation standpoint prospectively and certainly our ability to play a role in continuing to pursue those opportunities in a way that makes sense for us and our shareholders.

我認為，市場對於Casey's能為企業主帶來什麼、以及作為未來經營管理者（steward）來延續經營，接受度很高。而我認為我們對於整體而言產業在未來整併方面的發展，以及我們持續扮演角色、以對我們與股東合理的方式追求這些機會的能力，都非常有信心。

Bonnie Herzog with Goldman Sachs.

Bonnie Herzog，Goldman Sachs。

I just had, I guess, a question on your EBITDA guidance this year. Your 8% to 10% growth expectation is quite impressive. So hoping to hear what gives you the confidence to be able to generate this growth, especially considering the tough comps from last year? And then what are the key drivers of this growth between fuel and inside performance? And I guess, what might drive upside to guidance as well as what could possibly cause you to fall short of guidance?

我想問一下你們今年的EBITDA指引。你們預期8%到10%的成長相當令人印象深刻。所以希望聽聽是什麼讓你們有信心能達成這樣的成長，尤其考量去年基期很高？另外，這個成長在燃料與店內表現之間的關鍵驅動因素是什麼？以及，我想，哪些因素可能帶來指引上修的空間，又有哪些因素可能導致你們低於指引？

I'll take a crack at that. I appreciate you acknowledging it. We know that -- listen, it's a big number on an absolute basis. We are very sensitive to that reality and the strong finish to the fourth quarter makes the absolute numbers a little bit bigger. But fundamentally, right, our mousetrap, we are highly confident that mousetrap continues to work, and we believe it is strategically differentiated.

我來嘗試回答。謝謝你提到這點。我們知道——聽著，從絕對值來看這是一個很大的數字。我們對這個現實非常敏感，而第四季的強勁收尾讓絕對數字看起來更大一些。但從根本上說，我們的「捕鼠器」（mousetrap）我們非常有信心它會持續奏效，而且我們相信它在策略上具有差異化。

And so our algorithm for this business generally is that half of our EBITDA growth is going to come from what we would call the mothership and half is going to come from new units. The prior question, we addressed our confidence in new unit contribution, both building and buying them. So we feel very good about the 120 units and about the flow-through of the new units we've added in fiscal '26.

因此，我們這項業務的一般演算法是：我們的EBITDA成長有一半來自我們所稱的「母艦」（mothership），另一半來自新店。前一個問題我們已談到對新店貢獻的信心，包含自建與收購。所以我們對120家門市非常有信心，也對我們在2026財年新增門市的貢獻流入（flow-through）非常有信心。

And then from a mothership perspective, right, the strength that we addressed earlier, just the inside store performance, the margin tailwinds that we have broadly in the store and the differentiated offer that we have both in Grocery and Prepared Food, the velocity that we've had in the units and just with the platform expansion into wings, specifically on prepared food and a lot of the momentum on pizza. We need -- if we need 4% EBITDA growth from the mothership, I think between the Grocery business and the margin accretion and the assortment that we have and just the platform expansion and the velocity on the Prepared Food business, we feel really good that there's a path that is largely within our control to land us to that 8% to 10%.

而從「母艦」的角度來看，我們先前提到的優勢——也就是店內表現的強勁、店內整體的毛利順風、以及我們在雜貨（Grocery）與熟食（Prepared Food）上具差異化的產品供給、門市端的銷售動能（velocity），以及平台擴張到雞翅，特別是在熟食方面，還有披薩的許多動能。如果我們需要母艦貢獻4%的EBITDA成長，我認為結合雜貨業務、毛利提升、我們的品類組合，以及熟食業務的平台擴張與銷售動能，我們非常有信心有一條在很大程度上可控的路徑，能讓我們達到8%到10%。

Corey Tarlowe, Jefferies.

Corey Tarlowe，Jefferies。

Great. The inside sales have been particularly strong, but I wanted to just double-click on a question that was asked earlier around chicken wings. Could you just provide a little bit more context around how big you think this can be in terms of percentage of prepared food sales or dollar per box or comp lift or maybe margin? Just to give us some flavor for no pun intended, for how to think about the ultimate potential of this initiative? And then, Steve, just a follow-up on the OpEx guide.

很好。店內銷售表現特別強勁，但我想就先前有人問到的雞翅問題再深入追問一下。你能否再多提供一些背景，例如你認為這在即食食品銷售占比、每箱美元金額、同店提升（comp lift）或甚至毛利率方面，可能有多大？只是想讓我們更有感覺（無意雙關），該如何看待這項計畫最終的潛力？另外，Steve，再追問一下關於營運費用（OpEx）指引。

I think you said for Q1 is up high singles, and that includes credit card fees and seemingly that doesn't go away, but then the full year guide, I think, is 5% to 7%. So could you just describe that dynamic as well?

我記得你說第一季（Q1）會是高個位數成長，而且其中包含信用卡手續費，這看起來不會消失；但全年指引我想是 5% 到 7%。你能否也說明一下這個動態？

Yeah, Corey, I'll talk about the sales and wings. Still very early stages to determine the whole potential for wings, and we really haven't given any numbers. But ultimately, as we think about long term, and I want to emphasize this, this is a long-term comment. So don't go baking it into any models, Corey. But we think this has the potential to be the size of the pizza business, frankly.

好的，Corey，我來談談銷售與雞翅。目前仍在非常早期的階段，要判斷雞翅的整體潛力還言之過早，我們也確實還沒有提供任何數字。但最終，從長期來看——我想強調，這是長期的評論。所以 Corey，先別把它直接放進任何模型裡。但坦白說，我們認為它有潛力做到跟披薩業務一樣大。

Now that it took us 40 years to get to where we are today in pizza. So -- so it's going to take us some time to continue to build that credibility. But everything we're seeing right now would suggest that this can be an incremental occasion that it's good enough to stand on its own.

當然，我們花了 40 年才把披薩做到今天的規模。所以——所以我們還需要一些時間持續建立這方面的可信度。但我們目前看到的一切都顯示，這可以成為一個增量的消費情境，而且本身的產品力足以獨立成立。

And what I'd tell you is even in our Des Moines DMA, where we've had it for over a year, we're comping at a 20% growth rate year-over-year from the launch. So we think there's still a lot of upside there. We still have 2 more years of just rolling it out across the system before we get fully scaled. And once we're fully scaled, then we'll probably be able to do a little more from a marketing perspective to continue to drive the business. So not really prepared to give a number today, but suffice to say, we have a lot of confidence in the team and the plan and the upside potential for that part of the business.

我可以告訴你的是，即使在我們的得梅因（Des Moines）DMA，我們已經推出超過一年，從上市以來的年對年成長率仍約為 20%。所以我們認為那裡仍有很大的上行空間。在我們完全規模化之前，還需要再花 2 年把它在整個系統內持續鋪開。而一旦完全規模化，我們可能就能在行銷面做更多事情，持續帶動業務。因此今天還不太準備給出一個數字，但可以這麼說：我們對團隊、計畫以及這塊業務的上行潛力都非常有信心。

Irene Nattel, RBC Capital Markets.

Irene Nattel，RBC Capital Markets。

Let me just add my congratulations to the chorus. A couple of questions. First of all, I think you mentioned that you're going to complete the conversion of the CEFCO stores this year. So I guess first question is, how should we kind of be thinking about the cadence of lift in, I guess, inside store sales as and once that's completed? And then just a follow-up question on something you just said about wings over the long term.

我也想加入大家的行列表示恭喜。我有幾個問題。首先，我想你提到今年會完成 CEFCO 門店的轉換。那第一個問題是：在完成轉換的過程中，以及完成之後，我們應該如何看待店內銷售提升的節奏？另外再追問一個你剛剛提到的、關於雞翅長期發展的問題。

Should we be thinking about wings as kind of having multidimensional offerings over time in the same way that pizza does, for example. So again, like how that could scale up over time?

我們是否應該把雞翅視為會隨時間推進而形成多維度的產品供給，就像披薩一樣，例如不同品項/組合？也就是說，它可能如何隨時間擴大規模？

Yeah, Irene, with respect to the CEFCO remodels, yes, we said that we would be largely complete by the end of this fiscal year, and we are still on track to do that. The team is doing a fantastic job getting those remodels underway. What I'd tell you is it's a little bit choppy in terms of trying to model the impact for those. What I can tell you is post remodel, what we've experienced so far in the 50-ish stores that are remodeled is that they've exceeded our expectations. Now having said that, as we go into this next phase of remodel, these remodels are a little more complicated, a little more involved where we have to actually build kitchens in the stores.

好的，Irene，關於 CEFCO 的改裝，是的，我們說過在本財年結束前會大致完成，而我們仍按計畫推進。團隊在推動這些改裝方面做得非常出色。我想說的是，就試圖建模其影響而言，節奏會有點顛簸、不太平滑。我能告訴你的是：就目前已改裝的大約 50 家門店而言，改裝後的表現超出我們的預期。不過話說回來，進入下一階段後，這些改裝會更複雜、更深入，因為我們必須在店內實際建置廚房。

So the stores are coming offline or are under remodel for, call it, 4 to 6 weeks. And so they'll take a dip in performance while that construction is going on, then they come out the other end and they accelerate. So and we'll have close to 130 of those stores throughout the fiscal year in varying stages of that. So a little bit tough to say what the overall impact is. Kind of the way I think about it is it's kind of neutral for this year.

因此門店會暫時停業或處於改裝狀態，大約 4 到 6 週。所以在施工期間業績會先下滑，之後完工重新營運就會加速成長。而在本財年期間，將有接近 130 家門店處於不同的改裝階段。因此整體影響有點難以一概而論。我看待它的方式是：對今年而言大致是中性。

We don't see a lot of upside. I don't see really any downside, but it's a process to get through. Going into next fiscal year would be when we're largely clean, the remodels will be done and then we should be able to experience some of that upside. So I think we still have a lot of dry powder left with the CEFCO conversions for next fiscal year.

我們看不到太多上行。我也不太看到任何下行，但這是一個需要走完的流程。到了下一個財年，我們大致就會比較乾淨：改裝會完成，然後我們應該就能體驗到一些上行效益。所以我認為 CEFCO 轉換在下一財年仍有很多「乾粉」可用（尚未釋放的潛力）。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Mark Carden, UBS.

Mark Carden，UBS。

So you guys called out the strength in whole pies. Do you think you're seeing much incremental food-away-from-home trade-in coming as a result of fuel price increases? And just how are you thinking about price gaps in pizza today relative to the major national chains?

你們提到整個披薩（whole pies）的強勁表現。你們是否認為因為油價上漲，帶來了更多「外食」支出的增量轉入？另外，你們如何看待目前披薩價格相對於主要全國連鎖品牌之間的價差？

Yeah, Mark, a couple of things on that. We are experiencing some great growth on whole pie. And I think it is a combination of the great work our team has done on the innovation front in terms of getting really interesting and unique pizza builds out in the marketplace in conjunction with pulsing in some promotional opportunities to create value for our guests. But by and large, we are priced anywhere from $1 to $3 below the national brand competitors on whole pizzas, and that's that tends towards the $3 range, not so much the $1 range overall. If you look in this past year, the top 4 pizza chains that we track have taken about 2.5% in price this year, this past year.

好的，Mark，這裡有幾點。我們的整個披薩確實在強勁成長。我認為這是多種因素的結合：我們團隊在創新方面做了很棒的工作，把非常有趣且獨特的披薩組合推向市場，同時也搭配脈衝式推出一些促銷機會，為顧客創造價值。但整體而言，我們整個披薩的定價通常比全國品牌競爭對手低 1 到 3 美元，而且整體更偏向接近低 3 美元的差距，而不是 1 美元。如果看過去一年，我們追蹤的前四大披薩連鎖在今年、也就是過去一年大約提價了 2.5%。

We haven't taken any. And we haven't taken any for a couple of years while they have continued to do that.

我們沒有提價。而且我們已經好幾年沒有提價了，但他們仍持續這麼做。

So I think that value proposition is just that much stronger for us right now. With respect to high gas prices, I do think it's interesting because there's been a narrative that pizza velocity in the industry is under pressure because of high gas prices, but we have fuel pumps in front of all of our stores with a big price sign that flashes what the gas price is and our pizza business is up about 10% year-over-year. So I'm not sure that gas price -- there's a strong correlation between gas prices and pizza performance. But suffice it to say, we feel good about our value proposition, and it seems to be resonating with our guests.

所以我認為我們現在的價值主張更顯強勁。至於高油價，我覺得很有意思，因為市場上有一種說法是：由於油價高，整個產業的披薩銷售速度（velocity）受到壓力；但我們所有門店前面都有加油機，還有一個大型價格看板會閃爍顯示油價，而我們的披薩業務年對年仍成長約 10%。所以我不確定油價——油價與披薩表現之間是否存在很強的相關性。但總之，我們對自身的價值主張感到樂觀，而且看起來也確實引起顧客共鳴。

Chuck Cerankosky, Northcoast Research.

Chuck Cerankosky，Northcoast Research。

Great quarter. Congratulations. A question about your closed store base of 41. How many of those are Fikes that are in the process of being remodeled? How many will be sold and what kind of cash might that generate and the other is how many of those are just going to reopen out of the 41 that aren't Fikes?

很棒的一季。恭喜。我有一個關於你們已關閉門店基數 41 家的問題。其中有多少是正在進行改裝的 Fikes 門店？有多少會被出售，以及可能帶來多少現金？另外，在這 41 家中，有多少（不是 Fikes 的）會重新開業？

Yeah, Chuck, I'll take that. So the 41, those are not stores that are going to reopen, right? We would have -- we would consider those permanently divested. Some of those are Fikes. The best example I'd give you is the state of Mississippi.

好的，Chuck，我來回答。所以這 41 家，並不是會重新開業的門店，對吧？我們會——我們會把它們視為永久性處分。其中一些是 Fikes 的。我給你最好的例子是密西西比州。

So we acquired 10 or so stores, I think, as part of that total transaction in the state of Mississippi and upon further review, decided that just wasn't the right place for us to fly the flag at the moment, given that location and the capital returns that we expected. So we did ultimately sell those stores. And so you can see total monetization on the cash flow statement.

所以我們在密西西比州的那筆整體交易中，收購了大約 10 家左右的門店（我記得是這樣），但在進一步評估後，我們認為以目前來看，基於該地點以及我們預期的資本回報，那裡並不是我們適合「插旗」的地方。因此我們最終確實把那些門店賣掉了。所以你可以在現金流量表上看到整體變現的金額。

We got about $42 million last year from largely the sale of those 41 stores. There were some other things in there, but it gives you a sense of what the monetization of those were. And there were some other CEFCO stores beyond the Mississippi ones, but there were also stores from prior acquisitions. And then sometimes we will close two old stores when we build a brand-new store. So it's a variety of things, but CEFCO certainly is contributing there, and Mississippi is probably the highest profile decision that we made against those 41.

去年我們大約拿到 4,200 萬美元，主要來自出售那 41 家門店。裡面還有一些其他項目，但這能讓你大致了解它們的變現規模。此外，除了密西西比州那些之外，還有一些其他的 CEFCO 門店，但也有一些是更早之前收購案留下的門店。另外，有時候我們在新建一間全新門店時，會關掉兩間舊門店。所以原因很多元，但 CEFCO 確實有貢獻，而密西西比州大概是我們在這 41 家門店中做出的最具代表性的決策。

Tom Palmer, JPMorgan.

Tom Palmer，摩根大通（JPMorgan）。

I wanted to ask, and I know Corey touched on this, but on the OpEx growth, running a bit higher to close out the year, and it sounds like to start the year than the 5% to 7% growth outlook. When do we start to see OpEx growth taper off? And when we think about the drivers, are there new expense initiatives we should be thinking about versus maybe more mechanical items such as lapping nonrecurring costs like the elevated incentive comp?

我想問一下，我知道 Corey 有提到，但關於營運費用（OpEx）成長，在年底收官時跑得稍微高一些，而且聽起來年初也會比 5% 到 7% 的成長展望更高。我們什麼時候會開始看到 OpEx 成長趨緩？另外在驅動因素方面，是否有新的費用推動計畫需要我們納入考量？還是說更多是一些較機械性的因素，例如去年同期有一次性成本（像是較高的激勵薪酬）造成的基期效應？

Yeah. It's Steve. I'll take that. So the 5% to 7% for the year, I don't think there's a lot of special new initiatives per se that would be included in that number. We tend to run and the stores are the majority of our operating expense.

好的。我是 Steve。我來回答。所以全年 5% 到 7% 的區間，我不認為其中包含很多特別新的計畫。我們一向的費用結構是——門店占了我們營運費用的大宗。

I think stores are about 75% of our total OpEx. And so you're looking at a 4% kind of wage rate increase across the store base, partially offset by some hours. But by and large, you've got 4% in most of your base there. We will certainly have new units coming in as well, which would increase that. I think the sequencing in the first quarter versus the fourth quarter is probably the most impactful from a modeling standpoint.

我想門店大約占我們總 OpEx 的 75%。因此你看到的是整體門店基礎上約 4% 的薪資率上調，部分會被工時調整所抵消。但大體而言，你的基礎裡大多就是那 4%。我們當然也會有新店開出，這也會推升費用。我認為從建模角度來看，第一季相較第四季的時序差異可能是影響最大的。

And so yes, high credit card fee higher credit card fees year-over-year first quarter of this year for sure, because of higher retail.

所以是的，今年第一季信用卡手續費（信用卡費用）相較去年同期肯定會更高，因為零售額更高。

And if you think of what contributed to the higher OpEx print in the fourth quarter of '26, a lot of that was discretionary or performance-based. So 4% of the increase we had in the fourth quarter of '26 was discretionary charitable contributions and higher performance compensation. And so the planning assumption is right, we go back to normal course and incentive comp normalizes, we've kind of prefunded a lot of our charitable giving for the next couple of years. And so by the time you get to the fourth quarter, you actually, on a year-over-year basis, would have a much lower OpEx increase. And so when you sequence it that way, you can kind of land it back in that 5% to 7% range.

如果你回想一下 26 年第四季 OpEx 數字偏高的原因，其中很大一部分是可自由裁量或與績效掛鉤的項目。我們在 26 年第四季的增幅中，有 4% 來自可自由裁量的慈善捐款以及較高的績效薪酬。因此在規劃假設上是合理的：我們會回到正常節奏，激勵薪酬會正常化；而且我們已經為未來幾年的慈善捐贈做了相當程度的提前支出（prefunded）。所以到了第四季，你其實在年對年比較下會看到 OpEx 增幅低很多。用這樣的時序來看，你就能把全年拉回到 5% 到 7% 的區間。

Mike Montani, Evercore ISI.

Mike Montani，Evercore ISI。

I just wanted to ask about two things. One was just a clarification, if I could, in terms of traffic and ticket and how the comp cadence played out throughout the quarter? And then the follow-up was around EBITDA synergy realization from CEFCO. Are you guys closer to $20 million or $10 million for this year? And do you still think $40 million plus is attainable kind of over the next two years?

我想問兩件事。第一個是想請你澄清一下：就客流（traffic）與客單價（ticket）而言，本季同店（comp）的節奏在整個季度中是如何演變的？第二個追問是關於 CEFCO 的 EBITDA 協同效益實現。你們今年更接近 2,000 萬美元還是 1,000 萬美元？另外，你們是否仍認為未來兩年累計達到 4,000 萬美元以上是可達成的？

Yeah, Mike. With respect to traffic and ticket, we're I was really happy with how we performed in the fourth quarter from that perspective. Our traffic was up about 3%. Our ticket was up about 2.5%, and that's basically what gets you to the 5.5% same-store comp. So I feel really good about the balance that we're striking.

好的，Mike。就客流與客單價而言，從這個角度看，我對第四季的表現非常滿意。我們的客流約成長 3%。客單價約成長 2.5%，兩者加總基本上就帶來 5.5% 的同店成長。所以我對我們取得的平衡感覺非常好。

We're keeping pricing action at a minimum. And largely, that's taking place in the nicotine category. Overall, there's a couple of other areas, candy in particular, that has some price action, virtually none in Prepared Foods. And we're winning on traffic, which is, I think, the more sustainable way to grow the business, and our team is doing a fantastic job driving traffic to the stores and then building that basket once they get there.

我們把漲價動作降到最低。而且主要發生在尼古丁品類。整體來看，還有幾個其他領域也有一些漲價，尤其是糖果；在即食／現做食品（Prepared Foods）幾乎沒有。我們在客流上取勝，我認為這是更可持續的成長方式；我們的團隊在把客人帶進店裡方面做得非常出色，並在他們進店後擴大購物籃（basket）。

Brad Thomas, KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Brad Thomas，KeyBanc Capital Markets。

Great quarter here. I wanted to ask about store growth and different geographies and how you think about the competitive landscape is really the question I wanted to ask. You're moving more into Texas and then Florida. These are not big markets for you today, but obviously have tremendous potential going forward. Wondering if you could just touch on any nuances you're seeing from a competitive standpoint in these or any other markets.

這一季表現很棒。我想問的是門店成長、不同地理區域，以及你們如何看待競爭格局——這是我主要想問的。你們正更多進入德州，然後是佛州。這些目前對你們來說不是最大的市場，但顯然未來潛力巨大。想請你談談，在這些或其他市場，從競爭角度你們是否看到任何細微差異。

Yeah, sure, Brad. Certainly, we're getting into some newer geographies for us, as you mentioned, Texas and Florida in particular. And even as we've expanded our footprint further east, into Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, we start to run into some different competitors. But overall, we faced some pretty strong competitors in the geographies we do operate in, in a more concentrated basis, and we perform very well there. So we're very confident that in spite of perhaps a different competitive set than we're accustomed to, we perform very well against really the best in the business.

好的，當然可以，Brad。如你所說，我們確實正在進入一些對我們而言較新的地理區域，特別是德州與佛州。而且即便我們把版圖往東擴張到俄亥俄、密西根、肯塔基、田納西，我們也開始遇到一些不同的競爭對手。但整體而言，在我們目前營運較為集中的地區，我們本來就面對相當強的競爭者，而我們在那裡的表現非常好。因此我們非常有信心，即使競爭組合可能與我們過去習慣的不同，我們仍能在真正業界最強的對手面前表現得非常出色。

And they do well what they do well, and we do good at what we do good at. And so I think our model is a little bit differentiated versus a lot of theirs. And so we compete pretty favorably.

他們擅長他們擅長的事，我們也擅長我們擅長的事。所以我認為我們的模式相較他們很多人是有些差異化的。因此我們的競爭力相當不錯。

Texas, in particular, has been a good market for us as we've gotten in there. Florida is a little different. With us being in the panhandle, I would probably envision us from a store development standpoint, probably moving more north and west towards the core footprint of our geography as opposed to South and East towards the heart of Florida from that perspective. But that's how we're looking at today. We feel very confident in our ability to compete in whatever geography we're operating in.

德州尤其一直是我們進入之後表現很好的市場。佛羅里達則有些不同。由於我們位於狹長地帶（panhandle），從展店開發的角度來看，我大概會設想我們更可能往北、往西移動，朝向我們地理版圖的核心區域，而不是從這個角度往南、往東深入佛羅里達的核心地帶。但這就是我們目前的看法。我們對於在任何我們營運的地理區域中競爭的能力都非常有信心。

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital Markets.

Kelly Bania，BMO 資本市場。

Congrats on a strong quarter. Steve, I wanted to just go back to fuel margins a little bit. You had talked about it a little bit with respect to your comment on the sequencing there. But I guess, I think what sticks out is just clearly how strong the year ended from a fuel margin standpoint, and you're still guiding to your algorithm for fiscal '27. And I think you called out a mid-$0.40s CPG, which I guess would call for continued expansion from the $0.426.

恭喜本季表現強勁。Steve，我想稍微回到燃油毛利率的話題。你先前針對時序（sequencing）的評論已稍微提到一些。但我想，最突出的點是，從燃油毛利率的角度來看，年度結束時顯然非常強勁，而你們仍然指引到你們針對 2027 財年的演算法（algorithm）。而且我記得你提到每加侖毛利（CPG）在 0.40 美元中段，這看起來意味著要從 0.426 繼續擴張。

And so I'm just curious what drives that further increase in CPGs for next year? Is that just given how strong they've already started out? Is there something more structural with what Casey's is doing internally? And do you think that mid-$0.40s is sustainable in future years? Or could we come off of this kind of elevated environment at some point?

所以我很好奇，明年 CPG 進一步上升的驅動因素是什麼？這只是因為一開始就已經很強勁嗎？還是 Casey's 在內部做了什麼更具結構性的事情？你認為 0.40 美元中段在未來年度是可持續的嗎？或者我們是否可能在某個時間點從這種偏高的環境回落？

I'll try to address it. So there's I think there's a lot of things in the bowl, right? So technically, we're not guiding to mid-$0.40s. We just are telling you mid-$0.40s is what makes the math work. Now having said that, for sure, we're starting off the year strong, right?

我試著回應一下。我想這裡面有很多因素交織在一起，對吧？嚴格來說，我們並不是指引到 0.40 美元中段。我們只是告訴你，0.40 美元中段是讓數學（模型）成立所需要的水準。話雖如此，確實，我們今年開局很強，對吧？

The exit from the fourth quarter flatters our ability to achieve that number for the course of the year. We know that. We're sensitive to having to lap a really strong number in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. We don't know what the conflict is going to foretell or how that's going to play out. So we're sensitive to that.

第四季的期末水準（exit）讓我們在全年達成該數字的能力看起來更有利。我們知道這點。我們也留意到，我們必須在本財年第四季非常強勁的基期之上再比較（lap）。我們不知道衝突將預示什麼，或它會如何發展。所以我們對此保持敏感。

But structurally, two things on the structural side.

但從結構面來看，有兩點。

When we do the correlations historically, COVID notwithstanding, CPGs have tended to increase pretty consistently with CPI. And so we do generally feel pretty good about that reality. And so for sure, we don't see that necessarily breaking. And secondly, the cost of doing business in the industry for the small players has only gone up and the pressure that they feel across other aspects of the business has also only become more acute. And so for most of the industry, right, the 2/3 that are in chains of 10 stores or less, they just have a checkbook.

當我們回顧歷史相關性時（不考慮 COVID 的特殊情況），CPG 往往會隨著 CPI 相當一致地上升。因此，我們整體上對這個現實狀況感覺相當良好。所以我們當然不認為這個關係會必然被打破。第二，對於小型業者而言，產業的經營成本只會上升，而他們在業務其他面向所承受的壓力也只會更加尖銳。因此，對於產業中大多數業者而言，對吧，那 2/3 屬於 10 家店以下連鎖的業者，他們只有一本支票簿。

They don't have a prepared food business and a grocery business and a fuel business. They have a checkbook for the store. They have to pay people the same amount that we have to pay people. They don't have the procurement benefit that we have. They're over-indexed on tobacco relative to us.

他們沒有即食餐飲（prepared food）業務、雜貨業務以及燃油業務。他們只有店面的支票簿。他們必須支付與我們相同水準的薪資。他們沒有我們所擁有的採購優勢。相較於我們，他們在菸草品類上的比重過高。

They don't have any ability to scale or have any kind of a digital platform. The only thing they can do in the short term to help their situation and stay above water is to turn a lever on fuel margin. And so it's very difficult based on the NAICS information for the industry for us to countenance a resetting for the industry at a much lower level of CPGs than kind of we see right now, again, conflict notwithstanding. So you put all of that in the bowl, the structural stuff, the entrance strength that we have because of the conflict, we feel like that modeling guide that we have is imminently achievable also based on what we know right now.

他們沒有任何規模化能力，也沒有任何數位平台。短期內他們唯一能做、用來改善處境並維持不被淘汰的方法，就是在燃油毛利率上調整槓桿。因此，根據產業的 NAICS 資訊，我們很難接受整個產業把 CPG 重置到遠低於我們目前所見的水準（同樣不考慮衝突因素）。所以把這些都放在一起：結構性因素、因衝突帶來的我們的進場強勢，我們覺得我們的模型指引在目前已知情況下是非常可達成的。

Thank you. I would now like to hand the conference back over to Darren Rebelez for closing remarks.

謝謝。我現在想把電話會議交回給 Darren Rebelez 進行結語。

All right. Thank you for taking the time to join us on the call today. We look forward to sharing our next 3-year strategic plan in a couple of weeks. Have a great rest of your day. Thank you.

好的。感謝各位今天撥冗參加本次電話會議。我們期待在幾週後與各位分享我們下一個 3 年策略計畫。祝各位今天剩下的時間愉快。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

本次會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。您現在可以掛線。