Conferencia de resultados del primer trimestre fiscal de 2027 de Casey’s General Stores (CASY): El BPA sube un 28%

Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) registró un fuerte crecimiento en el primer trimestre fiscal de 2027, impulsado por el tráfico en alimentos preparados, mayores márgenes de combustible y una mayor base de tiendas. El BPA diluido aumentó un 28% interanual, mientras que el EBITDA subió un 17%.

Puntos clave

• El BPA diluido subió un 28% hasta los 7,37 dólares, el beneficio neto aumentó un 27% hasta los 274 millones de dólares y el EBITDA avanzó un 17% hasta los 485 millones de dólares.
• Los ingresos totales aumentaron un 24,3% hasta los 5.680 millones de dólares, lo que refleja principalmente mayores ventas en tienda y un incremento del 33% en el precio medio del combustible minorista hasta los 3,99 dólares por galón.
• Las ventas comparables en tienda crecieron un 3,2%. Las ventas comparables de alimentos preparados y bebidas de grifo aumentaron un 4,8%, impulsadas principalmente por el tráfico y un ajuste de precios mínimo.
• El margen de combustible alcanzó los 0,478 dólares por galón, un aumento interanual de 0,068 dólares, mientras que los galones en tiendas comparables disminuyeron un 0,3%. La dirección afirmó que Casey’s continuó ganando cuota de mercado de combustible en relación con la región del Mid-Continent.
• Los gastos operativos totales aumentaron un 8%, lo que incluye aportaciones de nuevas tiendas, costes de empleados, comisiones de tarjetas de crédito, seguros, reparaciones, mantenimiento y servicios públicos.
• La dirección mantiene su objetivo de añadir 120 tiendas en el ejercicio fiscal 2027 y prevé que las tiendas remodeladas comiencen a compensar de forma más significativa las interrupciones por obras hacia el cuarto trimestre.

Datos financieros clave

Rendimiento operativo y del negocio

Los alimentos preparados y las bebidas de grifo siguieron siendo el principal motor de las ventas en tienda. Las transacciones aumentaron en más de 100 puntos básicos y las unidades vendidas subieron casi un 4%. Las ventas de pizzas enteras crecieron casi a doble dígito, mientras que la dirección destacó el continuo interés de los clientes por las ofertas orientadas al valor y la contención en la subida de precios.

El margen bruto del segmento, del 59,3%, se benefició de unos costes del queso de 1,93 dólares por libra, un 9% menos que los 2,11 dólares del año anterior. La bajada de los costes del queso aportó aproximadamente 45 puntos básicos al margen, mientras que una reclasificación interna de los costes de distribución explicó el resto del incremento interanual.

El rendimiento de alimentación y mercancías generales fue desigual. Las alternativas a la nicotina crecieron un 47%, los productos energéticos subieron un 12% y los cócteles listos para beber aumentaron más de un 30%. La cerveza, los aperitivos y los cigarrillos siguieron bajo presión. Casey’s está destinando más espacio a las alternativas a la nicotina y ampliando los productos de marca propia en categorías donde las marcas nacionales de aperitivos han subido los precios.

El beneficio bruto de combustible aumentó un 19,6%. Los galones en tiendas comparables disminuyeron ligeramente, pero la dirección señaló que las interrupciones por remodelaciones supusieron un impacto negativo de aproximadamente 50 puntos básicos. El crecimiento acumulado a dos años de galones en tiendas comparables de Casey’s fue del 1,4%, frente a un descenso de aproximadamente el 10% en la región OPIS Mid-Continent citado en la conferencia.

Casey’s remodeló 24 tiendas adquiridas adicionales durante el trimestre, tras haber completado unas 50 en el ejercicio fiscal 2026. Las ventas de alimentos preparados y bebidas de grifo en las tiendas remodeladas han aumentado aproximadamente un 30% en comparación con el periodo equivalente previo a la remodelación. Las obras redujeron las ventas comparables en tienda en unos 25 puntos básicos y los galones de combustible comparables en unos 50 puntos básicos.

La plataforma de fidelización de la empresa cuenta ya con más de 11 millones de miembros. Las alitas de pollo siguen disponibles en 850 tiendas, y el inicio de la siguiente fase de despliegue está previsto para después del pico estival. La dirección indicó que el 38% de los clientes que compraron alitas realizaron pedidos únicamente de alitas, mientras que esos mismos clientes aumentaron su frecuencia general de compra de alimentos preparados en aproximadamente un 30%.

Previsiones de la dirección

La dirección planea actualizar sus previsiones anuales durante la conferencia de resultados del segundo trimestre fiscal, una vez transcurrido su periodo de mayor volumen estacional.

En agosto, los volúmenes en tiendas comparables, tanto en tienda como en surtidores, se mantuvieron en consonancia con los resultados del primer trimestre fiscal y permanecieron dentro de los rangos de las previsiones anuales. El margen de combustible se situó en la parte baja del rango de los 0,40 dólares por galón.

La empresa prevé que el crecimiento de los gastos operativos en el segundo trimestre fiscal sea similar al del primer trimestre fiscal, en parte debido a que los mayores precios del combustible minorista incrementan las comisiones de las tarjetas de crédito. La dirección sigue esperando que los gastos operativos crezcan a un ritmo inferior al del EBITDA a medio y largo plazo.

Los costes del queso están cubiertos aproximadamente en un 80% hasta principios del primer trimestre fiscal de 2028. La dirección prevé un modesto beneficio interanual en los márgenes derivado de los costes del queso durante cada uno de los tres trimestres restantes del ejercicio fiscal 2027.

Casey’s mantiene el rumbo para añadir 120 tiendas durante el ejercicio fiscal 2027. La empresa prevé que aproximadamente la mitad proceda de construcciones desde cero y la otra mitad de pequeñas adquisiciones.

Riesgos y factores a vigilar

Los márgenes de combustible se mantuvieron volátiles durante el trimestre, oscilando entre los rangos de 0,40 y 0,60 dólares por galón en distintos días debido a la reacción de los mercados petroleros a las noticias geopolíticas. En agosto, los márgenes se habían moderado hasta la zona baja del rango de los 0,40 dólares.

La remodelación de las tiendas requiere entre cuatro y seis semanas de afectación en algunas ubicaciones. La dirección no prevé que el aumento de ventas resultante compense de forma significativa el impacto de las obras en el segundo trimestre fiscal ni, probablemente, en el tercero, siendo más probable un punto de inflexión hacia el cuarto trimestre fiscal.

El aumento de los precios del combustible minorista está incrementando los gastos por comisiones de tarjetas de crédito. La inflación salarial, los seguros médicos, los servicios públicos y las reparaciones y mantenimiento también contribuyeron al crecimiento de los gastos operativos.

Los clientes de menores ingresos se vieron algo más presionados que otros grupos de renta, aunque la dirección señaló que los tres colectivos de ingresos analizados registraron un crecimiento positivo. La cerveza, los aperitivos de marcas nacionales y los cigarrillos tradicionales siguen siendo factores desfavorables para estas categorías.

Puntos destacados de la sesión de preguntas y respuestas

• Rentabilidad del combustible: La dirección calificó los márgenes de combustible del primer trimestre fiscal de volátiles, pero afirmó que el nivel mínimo de margen se mantuvo por encima de los niveles previos al conflicto en Oriente Medio. La subida de los precios del combustible llevó a los clientes a comprar menos galones por visita pero a realizar más viajes, al tiempo que se desplazaron hacia combustibles regulares y con mayor contenido de etanol, que conllevan márgenes más elevados para Casey’s.
• Rentabilidad de las remodelaciones: Las tiendas adquiridas ya eran ubicaciones de volumen relativamente alto, incluso en alimentos preparados. La dirección considera alentador el aumento de aproximadamente el 30% en las ventas de alimentos preparados tras la remodelación y ve un amplio margen de crecimiento en Texas, fuera de Dallas, Austin, San Antonio y Houston.
• Posicionamiento competitivo: Casey’s no observó una actividad promocional inusual entre los competidores del sector de tiendas de conveniencia. Su pizza de un solo ingrediente tiene un precio medio de unos 3 dólares por debajo de las marcas nacionales, y cerca de la mitad de sus tiendas no compiten con cadenas nacionales de pizzerías.
• Trayectoria de los gastos: Del incremento del 8% en los gastos operativos, la dirección atribuyó aproximadamente 2 puntos porcentuales a las nuevas unidades, cerca de 1,5 puntos a los gastos de empleados en tiendas comparables y casi 2 puntos a las comisiones de tarjetas de crédito en tiendas comparables. Las horas trabajadas en tiendas comparables se mantuvieron prácticamente estables.
• Entorno de M&A: La dirección señaló que las condiciones de adquisición siguen siendo favorables para los compradores, ya que los operadores más pequeños afrontan presiones. Los múltiplos se han mantenido relativamente estables, pero el menor EBITDA de los vendedores ha reducido los precios de compra absolutos de algunos activos.

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Comentarios de la dirección

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the First Quarter FY 2027 Casey's General Store Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Sam James, Senior Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Sir, please go ahead.

Samuel James

Good morning, and thank you for joining us to discuss the results of our first quarter ended July 31, 2026. My name is Sam James, Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations. With me today are Darren Rebelez, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Steve Bramlage, Chief Financial Officer.

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

There are a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from any uncertainties or any future results expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the integration of the recent Pipes acquisition, our ability to execute our strategic plans or realize the synergies 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 on our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC and available on our website.

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 attention 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 our operating expense increase for the first quarter can be found on our website at www.caseys.com under the Investor Relations link.

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

Darren Rebelez

Thanks, Sam, and good morning, everyone. Before we go into further detail on our outstanding first quarter performance, I'd like to thank the entire Casey's team for their hard work during our 100 days of summer or for the excellent job they did serving our guests. I'm also about of the positive impact we're making on the communities we serve. As students said back-to-school, our annual path for classrooms giving an raised funds for grants that will support schools, students and teachers.

This year, with the help of our guests, team members and supplier partner, Coca-Cola, we raised over $1.8 million. This is a new record and reflects our shared commitment to invest in the future of the communities we call home. We're through the first quarter of our fiscal 2027 to 2029 3-year strategic plan that we laid out in June where we highlighted Casey's advantaged convenience QSR flywheel with our 3 lines of business under 1 operating cost structure. Our strong first quarter result is yet another proof point that our advantaged model is working as we continue to gain share, both inside and outside the store.

Now let's discuss the results from the quarter. Diluted EPS finished at $7.37 per share, up 28% from the prior year. Net income was $274 million, an increase of 27% from the prior year. The company generated $485 million of EBITDA, 17% higher than the prior year and up 40% on a 2-year stack business. Inside the store, prepared food and dispensed beverages remained strong. PF&DB transactions were up over 100 basis points, driving PF&DB units up nearly 4% versus the same period in the prior year as best continue to gravitate toward our abundant offering, compelling value and continued innovations such as our Bacon, Cheeseburger, pizza LTO.

Inside margin expansion was driven primarily by prepared food and dispensed beverage mix. In forecourt, the capabilities we developed over the past couple of years helped us navigate a volatile environment. Fuel margin was nearly $0.48 per gallon, while same-store gallons were roughly flat. One note on the quarter. As part of our integration of the Fiest acquisition, approximately 1% of our total store base have planned disruption associated with remodeling legacy [indiscernible] stores to Casey's. As a result, same-store sales, both inside and outside the store faced a slight headwind. Despite this, we still posted strong same-store results for the quarter and remained ahead of schedule our integration efforts. The stores have been already remodeled to Casey's in prior periods have performed exceptionally well and we expect to remodel [indiscernible] Setco stores throughout the fiscal year.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I'd like to now go over our results and share some of the details in each of the categories. inside same-store sales were up 3.2% for the quarter or 7.7% on a 2-year stack basis. Gross profit margin for the quarter was 42.2%, up 30 basis points from the prior year. For Person dispense fabrics by the way, as same-store sales were up 4.8% or 10.7% on a 2-year stack basis, with a gross profit margin of 59.3%. The majority of same-store sales growth was from traffic with minimal pricing. This was highlighted by great performance in whole pies with units up nearly double digits in the quarter.

Same-store grocery and general merchandise sales were up 2.7% or 6.5% on a 2-year stack basis with a gross profit margin of 35.6%. Energy dreams and nicotine alternatives continue to outperform the category with double-digit growth. The alcohol category, specifically Bayer, was a headwind during the quarter. On the fuel side, same-store gallons sold were down slightly at 0.3% but were positive 1.4% on a 2-year stack basis with a fuel margin of $0.478 per gallon. The Mid-Continent region saw an approximate 6% decline this quarter according to Opus fuel gallon sold data, indicating that our play is working and we continue to gain market share and drive guest traffic.

In the quarter, same-store operating expense, excluding credit card fees increased 5%. Steve will provide some of the specific puts and takes related to operating expense changes. But I'm extremely proud of our operations team to be able to meet the increased food demand without meaningfully increasing store labor hours as same-store round were roughly flat for the quarter.

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

Stephen Bramlage

Thank you, Darren, and good morning. Before I begin, I also want to share my appreciation for our team members' hard work executing a plan during our busy summer months. It takes the entire organization's buy and to be able to generate such strong results, which are not easy to achieve. Our total revenue for the quarter was $5.68 billion. That's an increase of $1.11 billion or 24.3% from the prior year due primarily to higher inside sales and a higher retail price of fuel. Higher fuel gallons also contributed. The results were favorably impacted by operating approximately 2% more stores on a year-over-year basis.

Total inside sales for the quarter were $1.78 billion, and that's an increase of $94 million or 5.6% from the prior year. For the quarter, prepared food and dispensed beverage sales rose by $34 million to $493 million, an increase of 7.4% and grocery and general merchandise sales increased by $60 million to $1.28 billion, an increase of 4.9%. And inside same-store sales had an approximate 25 basis point headwind from the Fikes construction. Retail fuel sales were up $991 million in the quarter as the average retail price of fuel rose 33% from $3 to $3.99 per gallon, and total gallons sold increased by 2.5%.

Same-store gallons sent an approximately 50 basis point headwind from the Fikes construction. We define gross profit as revenue less cost of goods sold, but excluding depreciation and amortization. Casey's had total gross profit of $1.24 billion in the quarter, an increase of $127 million or 11.4% from the prior year and up 29.7% on a 2-year stack basis. This is driven by both higher inside gross profit of $44.3 million or 6.3% as well as higher fuel gross profit of $73.4 million or 19.6%.

Inside gross profit margin was 42.2%, and that's up 30 basis points from a year ago. The increase is primarily due to mix shift and solid cost of this management. Also, during the first quarter, we made a modest change in accounting for inside cost of goods sold related to internal distribution costs that had no net impact on inside margin in the aggregate, but it did create a slight tailwind to the PF and DB margin and a slight headwind to the grocery and [indiscernible]. We believe this change better reflects the true cost of goods sold between the 2 categories.

Prepared food and dispensed beverage gross profit margin was 59.3%. That's up 130 basis points from prior year. Cheese was $1.93 per pound for the quarter compared to $2.11 per pound last year. It's a decrease of 9% or an approximate 45 basis points benefit to the margin, along with the aforementioned distribution cost reclass, these 2 items accounted for all of the margin change in the quarter. The grocery and general merchandise gross profit margin was 35.6%, a decrease of 30 basis points from the prior year, and that change is completely attributable to the distribution cost reclass. Fuel margin for the quarter was $0.478 per gallon, up $0.068 per gallon from the prior year and sequentially about $0.01 stronger than the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 which reflected the beginning of the Middle East conflict and the related volatility in global petroleum markets.

Total operating expenses were up 8% or $55.9 million. Approximately 2% of the total operating expense increase was due to unit growth as we operated 64 more stores than the prior year. Same-store credit card fees added approximately 1.5% to the increase primarily due to the previously mentioned higher retail prices per gallon. Same-store employee expenses accounted for approximately 1% of the increase due primarily to increases in labor rates as same-store labor hours were roughly flat. Insurance, primarily same-store health care insurance was responsible for approximately 1% of the increase.

In addition, same-store repairs and maintenance and same-store utilities collectively made up approximately 1% of the increase. Net interest expense was $22.1 million in the quarter, that's down $4.8 million versus the prior year, which is primarily due to deleveraging associated with the Fikes transaction. Depreciation the quarter was $116 million. That's up $7 million versus the prior year, primarily due to operating more stores. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 21.1% compared to the prior year of 22.7%. That decrease was driven by an increase in tax benefits that were recognized on share-based awards.

Our financial flexibility remains excellent. On July 31, we had total available liquidity of $1.4 billion. Also, our credit facility debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 1.5x. For the quarter, net cash generated by operating activities of $384 million less purchases of property and equipment of $194 million resulted in the company generating $190 million in free cash flow compared to generating $262 million in the prior year. The decrease in free cash flow is due in large part to the planned increase in capital expenditures from the Seco store remodels. At the September meeting, the Board of Directors voted to maintain the quarterly dividend at $0.65 per share.

During the first quarter, we repurchased approximately $46 million in shares. While we're off to a great start to the year. Consistent with our past practice, we plan to update annual guidance on our second quarter earnings call, and we are through the seasonally largest time of the year. Our results for August were as follows: same-store volumes, both inside and outside the store were consistent with the first quarter results and within our annual guidance ranges. Fuel CPG is in the low $0.40 per gallon.

Current cheese costs are slightly favorable versus the prior year. We expect the second quarter operating expense increase to be similar to the first quarter, and that's partially driven by the increase in retail fuel prices as compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2026.

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

Darren Rebelez

Thanks, Steve. As we just wrapped up our first quarter into the new plan, I'm as excited as ever about our progress. Our food team is doing a tremendous job. [indiscernible] have continued their strong momentum in the quarter. Just are flocking to the Casey's Rewards platform as we're now over 11 million members. We believe our abundant and value-oriented food offering is not only a differentiator driving inside traffic but is also driving traffic to the pump. This, coupled with our fuel team doing an excellent job balancing fuel margin in gallons during an uncertain environment has yielded great results. This is our 3-legged business model in action.

During fiscal year 2026, we remodeled approximately 50 Setco stores to Casey's. In first quarter of fiscal year 2017, we've remodeled 24 more stores. We're extremely excited about the results we're seeing as the average PFDD list at the stores that were remodeled to Casey's has been approximately 30% versus the results of the same period prior to remodel. While we're busy with [indiscernible] conversions has not stopped us from continuing to grow the store base as we are on track to meet our 120 store unit goal for the fiscal year. Operational efficiency is another key pillar of the strategic plan.

As we discussed at Investor Day, we expanded our continuous improvement efforts to include both the store and the enterprise as a whole. We're off to a great start as the team has completed a number of initiatives with many more on track for completion during the fiscal year, both at the store and throughout the organization. Overall, I'm very proud of the team's execution of the plan. We look forward to building on the momentum we have going throughout the fiscal year and beyond.

We will now take your questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

Our first question comes from the line of Edward Kelly with Wells Fargo.

Preguntas y respuestas

Edward Kelly

I wanted to start on fuel margins. I was hoping that you can maybe talk about the trend in fuel margin during Q1. I think you said you had a very strong start last quarter, which I think a lot of us kind of assume that maybe that was -- just curious what the rest of the quarter looked like. And then the underlying dynamics that drove that really robust Q4 performance and strong start.

Just curious as to the sustainability of those dynamics through the quarter, and then just lastly related to all this, as you think about your mid-40s sort of margin guide, anything you're seeing out there currently that sort of raises question about that at all? Maybe talk about breakevens as part of that.

Stephen Bramlage

This is Steve. I'll address the first. The first 1 on fuel margins during the course of the quarter. Yes, we certainly -- we did enter the beginning of the fiscal year in a good position, certainly given the experience that we had in the fourth quarter. But I would say, honestly, that the quarter was volt's always the word I would describe with fuel margins. There were days when it was in the 60s. There were days when it was in most days, it was in the 40s. And to some extent, depending on the headlines that you read about in the paper and social media, there would be a corresponding move and to margin over the next year or 2.

So I don't think it's possible to really drive a solid trend during the course of the quarter. The floor for sure was higher which is what we saw in the fourth quarter of last year because of the conflict that was unchanged, but it really moved around quite a bit based on headlines as we went through the quarter.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

Our next question comes from the line of Greg Melich with Evercore ISI.

Gregory Melich

I'd love to follow up on sort of the trends you saw through the quarter, particularly with how much of the comp decel in grocery and prepared food might have been people getting squeezed in terms of cash they had filling up the gas tank at the same time, anything about that in the trends from -- since the quarter as well?

Darren Rebelez

Yes, Greg, this is Darren. I'll go ahead and take that one. Yes, I would say that the trends that we saw in first quarter were similar to what we've seen over the last several quarters. a couple of points. One is that the lower-income consumers are being slightly more impacted than the other income cohorts. If you look at our business, all 3 in the cohorts that we measure had positive growth in the quarter. So I'll caveat it with that. But I would say that been more of the impact we saw in the grocery and general merchandise side is really driven by category trends versus demographic trends.

And what I mean by that is you look at the 3 areas where we had some softness is beer, snacks and cigarettes. And those categories have all been challenged for different reasons. That's an industry-wide phenomenon. We're not immune to that. On the beer side, we were able to make up for a good part of that with our liquor business. ready-to-drink cocktails in particular, were up over 30% in the quarter. So we saw some good strength there, not enough to overcome the dragon beer.

Snacks, I think we talked about this before. We're seeing a lot of price action taken from the National brands, which has put some pressure on there, and 6 has been a multi-decade trend. On the other side, on grocery and general merchandise, real strength in Nick alternatives up 47% in the quarter. Energy continues to perform well at 12% and nonalcoholic beverages overall, were a strong contributor. So overall, I'd say the trends are what they are.

And then lastly, when I look at a 2-year stack basis, Grocery and General Merchandise up 6.5% in an environment like this, I think, is pretty solid performance.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

Our next question. next question will come from the line of Tom Palmer with JPMorgan.

Thomas Palmer

I wanted to maybe just follow up on the CFCO commentary in terms of the remodels. You noted 25 basis point inside same-store sales headwind and 50 on the fuel side -- fuel gallons. How did this compare to kind of what you would see on past remodels? And then as we look out here over the next couple of quarters, should we be thinking about a similar kind of headwind? Or does like a lift from the remodeled stores start to more than offset, let's say, any headwind from the disruption during the remodels?n

Darren Rebelez

Yes. This is Darren. On the remodels, this is to be expected when we do heavy lifting. Why you didn't see this in the first quarter -- or fourth quarter of last year, was there is a cohort of stores that already had kitchens in them that we were able to convert in just a matter of days. So there's really very minimal impact to the performance of the business while those were being remodeled. -- this next tranche of stores that we started this quarter, this past quarter are impacted anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. And so that puts a pretty significant drag.

They've not closed the entire time, but they're closed for a good part of it and then partially under construction part of it. So there's a lot of disruption that puts a drag. It is not anything different than what we would normally see in a remodel of other acquisitions. Probably the biggest difference is the [indiscernible] stores tend to be higher-volume stores versus others that we've acquired in the past. And so it has more of a disproportionate impact. And there's just more of them that we're remodeling.

So -- that all said, we've been very happy with the results coming out of the remodels. And so at some point, to your point, Tom, these numbers will inflect, but that's probably later in the fiscal year. And so I wouldn't expect to see that in the second quarter, probably not anything meaningfully in third quarter. It'll probably be more fourth quarter or you start to see that inflection point.

Stephen Bramlage

Yes. And I would probably just add to that, all of this was confidence in our annual guidance, we knew all this was going to happen. And so none of this is a surprise and I think it's exactly kind of the impact and the timing that we would have expected.

Operator

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

Bonnie Herzog

I had a question on [indiscernible] which has remained elevated over the last several years. So could you provide a little more color on the FQ1 drivers and how you expect the cadence for OpEx to trend from here. And then curious if you could touch on how much of the increase in the quarter was tied to the new stores or subco, maybe labor, credit card fees or other inflationary pressures? And just really just trying to think about how we should think about normalized OpEx growth from here over the long term?

Stephen Bramlage

This is Steve. In terms of the waterfall, that I think will end up on the web page as we've done in the past. But to get to the total OpEx change of the 8% in the quarter, about 1.5 points of that was same-store employee expense. So think of kind of 3% wage rate offset by flat hours gets you kind of 1.5 points. About 2% would have been what we would kind of broadly bucketed same-store operations. So that would be repairs and maintenance, utilities, insurance, self-insured for health care, that would go into that 2% bucket new units to your point, is about 2% all by itself, just the ramp of new units.

Credit card fees, same-store credit card fees would be another 1.5 points, almost 2 points and then you get kind of everything else in the 1% bucket, which would be technology and supplies and some miscellaneous things. We continue to believe -- the best way to think about OpEx on a long-term basis is consistent with the algorithm, right, we'll grow.

We firmly believe we can grow operating expenses at a slower rate and we're going to grow EBITDA over the medium and long term. I think that's imminently achievable for us. And for this year, I'd just probably point back to -- we obviously haven't updated the guide for the year. But the squeeze math for the rest of the rest of the year. If you go back to what we experienced in the fourth quarter of last year, you'll get less OpEx growth on a year-over-year basis this year to land the plane within that range. And especially if you take the second quarter is going to look similar to first because of the credit card fee dynamic you should be able to land second half of the year pretty close.

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Mark Carden with UBS.

Unknown Analyst

This is Matthew [indiscernible] on for Mark. So I was wondering if you could touch on the competitive landscape and promotional landscape a little bit. Are you seeing any impact from price investments from some of the merchants on your inside sales or grocery and gen merch and any shift from kind of your convenience store peers and competition and thing?

Darren Rebelez

Matthew, this is Darren. Really, we haven't seen any unusual or different activity from the C-store competitive. And I think that's a reflection of the more challenged environment that they find themselves in. relative to us with a big Prepared Foods business. But yes, we really haven't seen much of that there. On the pizza side of the business, it's been a it's been a mixed bag. I think there's been some more promotional activity.

But again, I'd remind you of how we approach the business. We have our own degree of promotional activity, but our starting point is far lower in price versus the national brands. We're close to, on average, about $3 for a single topping pizza below what a national brand would be priced at just line pricing. And then also, as a reminder, about half of our stores don't even have a national brand pizza competitors. So we're really in a very good competitive spot.

And what we did see over the quarter was that similar to the dynamic that we described in Investor Day, where we've taken minimal price while the pizza QSR set has taken more price we saw that dynamic in first quarter continue. And that gap that we had from our pricing in Prepared Foods to theirs actually widened even further. So we think we saw that in numbers with the unit growth and the dollar growth as well in PF&DB.

Operator

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

Charles Cerankosky

Great quarter. I'd like to return to the nicotine category. It's shrinking on the cigarette side. Could you talk a little bit about the -- I kind of came even think of the name right now, the artificial cigarettes and then what it means for the inside merchandising as you change space allocation or need to use other products to get the traffic back?

Darren Rebelez

Yes. Chuck, this is Darren. And they're called nicotine alternatives. And so yes, that -- what we've seen over the course of the last couple of years is as the secular decline in combustible cigarettes continues, nicotine alternatives is starting to replace that lost volume. Now it's not a 1 for 1 yet. It hasn't quite grown that fast. But if you think about how the categories are trending with cigarettes down 1% or 2% on a sales basis and down call it, 5% or 6% on a unit basis and nicotine alternatives up 47% in the quarter.

You can see where that change is going to come here soon. from a space allocation standpoint, I think that's where our merchandising team has done a really good job is getting ahead of this. And we talked about this on previous calls. We reset those nicotine backbars to reduce the combustible cigarette space to make more room for nicotine alternatives. And that move a couple of years ago is I think we were 1 of the first in the industry to do that. And really improved our benefit.

And I think that's 1 of the reasons that you see the strength in that category today in our stores. And we just did another adjustment this past fiscal year to give even more space in the nicotine alternatives. So the category overall is definitely shifting in favor of those alternatives, and we expect to be a leader in that space.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Pooran Sharma with Stephens.

Pooran Sharma

Just a quick one from me. I think you mentioned your cheese cost is $1.93 per pound. Was just wondering if you could give us how much your -- as you're looking out here, how much you're covered and how many orders you are covered out?

Stephen Bramlage

Yes. For this is Steve. I'll address that. We are about 80% covered through early into the first quarter of next fiscal year. And generally, certainly, for the remainder of this fiscal year, the out quarters, we would be covered in a modest tailwind to margin each of those 3 quarters.

Operator

Our next question will be from the line of Cory Tarlowe with Jefferies.

Pooran Sharma

have a 2-parter. So the first, I would love an update on chicken wings. And then second is on M&A I think you've placed recently a little bit more emphasis on Texas. Could you maybe talk a little bit about the strategy within that market, please?

Darren Rebelez

Corey, this is Darren. With respect to wings, wings are performing well. We've been really happy with the results so far, we're still in 850 stores, and we'll start rolling out the next tranche of stores here later this month. We didn't do any rollouts over the 100 days of summer, just to give our stores a chance during their biggest peak period to execute at a high level. So we'll start those now, and we'll start getting those open probably in early third quarter.

Wings, like I said, it performed well, 1 of the encouraging things is about 38% of guests have purchased wings at a wings only order. And you recall when we talked about this strategically, we are looking to achieve another night of the week or another occasion, in addition to pizza. And so those wing-only orders really represent that incremental occasion. And so the folks that have had a wing-only order had increased their frequency of prepared food purchases overall by about 30%.

So it's a really good fact pattern for us. We're still early stages and still growing as an example, in the Des Moines DMA, which we've had the wings in the longest, we were up 46% in the quarter over prior year. So there's still a long runway for growth there. and very bullish on that category.

Operator

And our next question will come from the line of Kelly Bania with BMO Capital Markets.

Kelly Bania

Steve and Darren, I wanted to just go back to the beer snacks and cigarette momentary and the impact on the grocery comps -- just curious a little bit more color there when that kind of weaker trend started? And are you seeing just more of a unit slowdown? Or is there a trade down to lower price points or smaller pack sizes? And do you -- or some of the vendor plans to promote these categories through the rest of the year?

Darren Rebelez

Yes, Kelly, or go ahead and take that. And you got something different going on in each of those. I'd say I'll just start with cigarettes because that's the easiest that's been for 30, 40 years, that trend. So nothing new to report in cigarettes. -- other than it's just continuing to be under pressure. And like I said, I feel better about that category, the total nicotine category now than I have in a long time because of Nick alternatives and the growth rate we're seeing there and the margin profile.

As a reminder, the margin in Nick alternatives is double what it is in combustible cigarettes. So that ends up -- that math ends up working out pretty favorably on a gross profit dollar standpoint over long term. Snacks is something that we've experienced for the last couple of years. where the national brand manufacturers have just taken a lot of price primarily in chips. And so you see a lot of pressure in that category. And while there's been some some price action that they're taking of take-home packages, they're not taking that on immediate consumption packages, which is the bulk of what we sell.

So there's just -- they just price themselves out of the market, frankly. Now what we're doing about that is we've leaned heavier into our private label offering. And so we're seeing really good growth in those same categories in our private label products. So we think we're not really traffic necessarily, but the retails are lower. And so it doesn't have quite the impact on the sales line as we might otherwise have. In beer, beer has been a category that's really struggled for the last couple of years. I think it started off with Budweiser and their social media snap and then it's just kind of hung in there like that.

The one bright spot is super premium beer would make Ultra. But outside of that, it's been soft. What we've really done is we have made sure that we're were priced appropriately. We are looking at space allocation in the category to make sure we're appropriately spaced and then leaning a little bit heavier on the liquor category. And like I mentioned earlier on the call, Ray to drink cocktails up 30-plus percent. So that's been a good offset, and that's a little bit more on trend with where the consumers are going.

Operator

Our next question will be from the line of Brad Thomas with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Bradley Thomas

I wanted to ask about the same-store gallons. I know it's tracking within your annual guidance. This was the first quarter being negative after about 6 quarters of being positive. Just curious what you were seeing in the quarter, how much of the decline is being a tougher comparison that you're up against? And then to what extent is fewer gas sales trickling through to the inside comp? I'm not sure if you've been able to look at that yet.

Darren Rebelez

Yes, Brad, I'll go ahead and take that. Just on the same-store gallons on the trend, a few things I'd point out. One is down 30 basis points. So our annual guide was down 1% to 2%. So we're talking about pretty nuanced numbers there, point number one. Point number two, as Steve described with the CFCO REIT model, that's about a 50 basis point drag on overall gallons. So you -- so if you net that out, you're probably up 20 basis points. So that's, again, nuance, but it's probably right in the middle of the annual guide range.

Now on a 2-year stack basis, we were cycling a 1.7% same-store gallon number. And to put that in perspective, so we're -- on a 2-year stack, we're up 1.4%. The OPIS Mid-Continent region, which is where we operate primarily over that same 2-year period is down 10%. So we've taken significant share in fuel and 20 basis points here, 30 basis points there doesn't concern me when the overall trend is where it is. And from a -- I would just add with a consumer behavior standpoint on fuel, with higher fuel prices. We're seeing exactly the type of behavior that we would expect to see fewer gallons per trip, but more trips made which ultimately accrues to our benefit if we had more people coming to the store.

People are trading out of premium and mid-grade and opting for regular or higher ethanol blends of fuel higher ethanol blends of fuel carry a higher margin for us than clear gasoline. So while these trends kind of ebb and flow, it's very consistent with prior periods of higher gas prices and ultimately out to our benefit.

Operator

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

Krisztina Katai

I had a follow-up to grocery. So Darren, you've highlighted strong growth in energy in nonalcoholic beverages and nicotine alternatives, but obviously, snacks remain challenged. So do you think the weakness in snacks is entirely a function of pricing and value perception? And are you starting to see evidence, maybe of a more durable shift in consumer behavior? Obviously, there is a shift towards healthier consumption patterns or also any GLP-1 usage that you might be seeing? And if that is warranting any kind of a revision of how you're thinking about maybe what the inside of the box needs to look like, maybe 2 to 3 years from now?

Darren Rebelez

Yes. Thanks, Krisztina. And certainly, we keep an eye on that. But when I look at what's happening in the category, and as I mentioned before, on snacks in particular, National brand shuts down around 8%. TC's chips up 16% in units. So -- if it was a GLP-1 impact, I don't think we'd see the strength in our own private brand. We just -- we see overall negative trend in the category. So I can't put my finger on the idea that it's a GLP-1 type issue.

That being said, there is certainly a trend of people leaning more towards protein-heavy snacks and foods in general, we are seeing that and our merchandising team has done a nice job of bringing in more protein-dense snacks and other foods -- to satisfy that need, and we are seeing good growth in those. They're just smaller categories.

So they really don't move the needle as much on the overall GnGM category, but they are going well. And we are saying it tuned to that trend, we just -- I just don't see it yet to make any more dramatic shifts at this point.

Operator

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

Robert Griffin

Darren, I wanted to touch on just the Texas opportunity further. And I think you called out on the remodel stores for Fikes they're performing well. But can you dive into a little bit more about what those stores are kind of showing versus maybe corporate average once they get your Casey's pizza in there. I think bikes were higher performing stores. So is that translating into a higher just larger pizza business? And is that indicative of what maybe the opportunity could be as you open up new to industry or you do tuck-ins, you guys completed a small tuck-in in Texas after the quarter end?

Darren Rebelez

Yes, Bobby. Like we said, the performance of the CECO stores has been fantastic so far coming out of the remodels. And what I'd say is most encouraging is that these stores were high volume. They were generally higher volume than our average. Now not in Prepared Foods, but their prepared foods business is probably the best that we've ever acquired. I don't think there's been anything that's even close to how CECO is performing in Prepared Foods prior to acquisition.

And so when we can come in and take a store already doing well in Prepared Foods and layer our program on top of it and see the types of lifts that we're seeing, 30-plus percent year-over-year is really encouraging. And even in the proof-of-concept stores that had the full Casey's assortment for over a year, they're still comping positively. And so we feel really good about what we see. We've also had some new to industry stores that we built out in Texas over the last year since we've been down there, and those are performing very well.

So we really like Texas overall. We -- as you know, this has been a goal of ours to get into that state for a while now. The 2 acquisitions we've done and now 1/3 coming have been very good to us, and the new industries are doing well and as I have looked at Texas outside of the big 4 cities of Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. The rest of that entire state is Casey's Country and from our perspective, it's got a long, long runway for growth.

Operator

Our next question will be from the line of Daniel Glioma with Capital One Securities.

Daniel Guglielmo

Kind of a follow-up on kind of state strength. You have stores in 9 different states. If you think about customers at the state level, are there certain states or areas of the country where you're seeing a stronger consumer or weaker ones?

Darren Rebelez

Daniel, I'd have to look. I probably have to look a little closer to try to answer that question. Nothing jumps out at me probably 1 example that we have seen is between Illinois and Indiana on the border where Indiana has suspended gas tax in that state, and Illinois hasn't done anything similar. And so we're seeing a little bit of weakness along the border in Illinois from a fuel perspective, but we're also seeing a corresponding strength on our -- on the other side of the border in our Indiana store side.

I'd say it's kind of a wash just guess kind of playing an arbitrage game. But outside of that, I couldn't specifically point to any 1 state doing better or worse than the others. I mean, they always perform a little bit differently, but nothing that really jumps out that concerns me.

Stephen Bramlage

Yes. I think it's worth reinforcing it. If you just think about part of the strategic that Casey's has and then we tried to highlight at the Investor Day, right, the geographic footprint we have remains in some of the lowest cost of living parts of the country. And so broadly speaking, the money that our consumers earn goes further than it would certainly for consumers who are similarly situated on the coast, and we feel like that just accrues to our benefit, for sure. And I think that is a very fair statement for the vast majority of the communities that we serve and continue to serve.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

Our next question comes from the line of Jacob Aiken-Phillips with Melius Research.

Unknown Analyst

This is Sam [indiscernible] on for Jacob. I was just wondering if you could zoom out a little and touch on M&A as a whole. Have you seen the industry change at all in the last several quarters? And then also, just wondering if you could remind us on philosophically just how you see M&A contributing to your 120 new unit growth target by the end of the fiscal year?

Stephen Bramlage

Yes, Sam, I'd say the M&A environment is still really good. And that's a reflection of the challenging environment that the industry finds itself in, particularly the small operators. And -- and so I would say it's changed. I'd say it's still consistent, they even gotten a little better from a buyer's perspective. And multiples have stayed relatively flat, but the EBITDA that's multiplied by as not. And the EBITDA, even with the higher fuel margins, tends to go backwards for the smaller operators.

So we find ourselves paying a lower absolute price for some of these assets, even though the multiples are about the same. And consistent with our guidance, every year, we go into that giving a number of stores we'll add in the fiscal year. This year, it's 120. We go into that, assuming half of that will come from new to entry builds half of that will come from the small deal M&A and that's exactly how we see it playing out this year, give or take a couple.

Operator

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

Darren Rebelez

All right. Thank you for taking time today to join us on the call. Before we go, I want to thank our team members once again for all their hard work this quarter. Have a great day. Thank you.

Operator

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