Conferencia de resultados del 3T de 2026 de APC: Crecimiento del EBITDA, mejora de previsiones y acuerdo USPP

Puntos clave

• ARKO Petroleum Corp. (APC) reportó un beneficio neto de 13,3 millones de dólares en el tercer trimestre de 2026, en comparación con los 10,1 millones de dólares del mismo periodo del año anterior.
• El EBITDA ajustado aumentó un 9,4% interanual hasta los 41,0 millones de dólares, mientras que el flujo de caja discrecional creció un 22% hasta los 32,3 millones de dólares.
• Los mayores márgenes de combustible y otros ingresos compensaron con creces los menores volúmenes en un contexto de precios elevados de los carburantes. El volumen en galones del negocio mayorista cayó un 4,3%, pero la contribución del combustible mayorista aumentó un 6,6%.
• La dirección elevó sus previsiones de EBITDA ajustado para todo el año 2026 a un rango de entre 156 y 157 millones de dólares, citando el desempeño acumulado en el año y los avances hacia el cierre de la adquisición de U.S. Petroleum Partners.
• Se espera que USPP aporte aproximadamente 30 millones de dólares de EBITDA ajustado anualizado y sume cerca de 280 millones de galones anuales a través de aproximadamente 400 puntos de venta de distribuidores. El cierre de la operación sigue previsto para el cuarto trimestre fiscal de 2026.
• El consejo de administración declaró un dividendo trimestral de 0,50 dólares por acción, en línea con el objetivo anualizado de APC fijado para 2026 de 2,00 dólares por acción.

Datos financieros clave

A 30 de septiembre de 2026, APC disponía de aproximadamente 705 millones de dólares en sus líneas de crédito. La deuda neta se situó en 338,4 millones de dólares y la ratio de deuda neta sobre EBITDA ajustado fue de 2,2x. El tipo de interés medio de la deuda bajo la línea de crédito de Capital One fue de aproximadamente el 6% al cierre del trimestre.

Desempeño comercial y operativo

El resultado operativo del negocio mayorista aumentó un 7% hasta los 25,8 millones de dólares. La disminución en el volumen de galones se vio compensada con creces por unos márgenes combinados más sólidos, respaldados en parte por mayores descuentos por pronto pago asociados a los elevados costes del combustible. El volumen adicional procedente de los puntos de venta incorporados a través del programa de conversión a distribuidores de ARKO Corp. compensó parcialmente la debilidad general de la demanda.

El resultado operativo de Fleet Fueling creció un 8,9% hasta los 13,3 millones de dólares, impulsado por los mayores márgenes del combustible. La dirección señaló que aproximadamente el 80% del volumen del segmento corresponde al diésel y que la demanda de los clientes comerciales se mantuvo relativamente estable, a pesar de que los precios del diésel superaron los 6,50 dólares en septiembre.

APC incorporó siete estaciones cardlock durante 2026 y contaba con 16 ubicaciones en diversas fases de planificación y desarrollo. La empresa sigue teniendo como objetivo sumar 20 nuevas estaciones cardlock al año, con rentabilidades de entre el 15% y el 19% y costes de construcción no superiores a aproximadamente 2 millones de dólares por instalación.

La propuesta de adquisición de USPP ampliaría la presencia de APC en la región de los Grandes Lagos. Además de los puntos de distribución y el volumen de combustible, se espera que la operación sume terminales en Novi (Míchigan) y Toledo (Ohio), así como una flota de transporte que distribuye más del 80% del volumen de USPP. La dirección afirmó que los volúmenes adquiridos incrementarían el volumen acumulado de los últimos 12 meses de APC a 30 de septiembre de 2026 en aproximadamente un 14%.

Previsiones de la dirección

APC elevó sus previsiones de EBITDA ajustado para todo el año 2026 a un rango de entre 156 y 157 millones de dólares. La dirección atribuyó esta mejora a los resultados de los primeros nueve meses, a sus perspectivas para el resto del año y al avance continuo hacia el cierre de la adquisición de USPP.

La empresa prevé que la operación de USPP se cierre durante el cuarto trimestre fiscal de 2026. La dirección indicó que se espera que la adquisición aporte cerca de 30 millones de dólares de EBITDA ajustado anualizado, con una sólida conversión a flujo de caja discrecional, aunque el cierre definitivo sigue pendiente.

Riesgos y aspectos a vigilar

• Los elevados precios de la gasolina y el diésel han reducido el consumo de combustible y aumentado las necesidades de capital de trabajo, aunque los mayores descuentos por pronto pago han servido de apoyo a los márgenes.
• La dirección prevé que una eventual bajada de los precios del combustible alivie las necesidades de capital de trabajo y pueda favorecer un aumento de los volúmenes. No obstante, subrayó la incertidumbre en torno a la evolución de dichos precios.
• La mejora en las previsiones de APC refleja en parte la expectativa de cerrar la adquisición de USPP, lo que plantea consideraciones sobre los plazos y la ejecución de cara al cuarto trimestre de 2026.
• Se espera que la reciente subida de tipos de interés de 25 puntos básicos tenga un impacto moderado en los gastos financieros anuales, considerando la deuda viva a 30 de septiembre de 2026.

Aspectos destacados de la sesión de preguntas y respuestas con analistas

En cuanto a los márgenes normalizados, la dirección señaló que unos precios más bajos del combustible podrían reducir el beneficio obtenido por los descuentos por pronto pago, pero potencialmente incrementar los galones vendidos. Espera que estos efectos se compensen mutuamente en cierta medida, respaldando la estabilidad del modelo de negocio de APC.

En relación con el flujo de caja, la dirección afirmó que una caída en los precios de los carburantes podría reducir las necesidades de capital de trabajo y dejar más efectivo en el balance. El encarecimiento del diésel, que pasó de situarse en el rango medio de los 3 dólares al rango medio de los 6 dólares, había elevado las necesidades de financiación a lo largo del año.

Respecto a las fusiones y adquisiciones (M&A), la dirección calificó el mercado como activo y prácticamente sin cambios respecto a trimestres anteriores. Los precios más altos del combustible han aumentado la presión sobre el capital de trabajo de los operadores más pequeños, lo que podría limitar su capacidad para aprovechar los descuentos por pronto pago.

En cuanto a la asignación de capital, APC indicó que la mayor parte se está destinando a adquisiciones y a la expansión del negocio. La dirección definió las estaciones cardlock como una oportunidad de crecimiento orgánico de coste relativamente bajo y reiteró su objetivo de rentabilidad de entre el 15% y el 19%.

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Transcripción completa de la conferencia de resultados

Comentarios de la dirección

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to ARKO Petroleum Corp. Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Priya Trivedi, SVP of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Priya Trivedi

Thank you. Good afternoon, and welcome to ARKO Petroleum Corp.'s Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. On today's call are Arie Kotler, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Jordan Man, Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings press release and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of 2026 are filed with the SEC are available on our website, www.arkopetroleum.com.

During our call today, unless otherwise stated, management will compare results to the same period in 2025. Before we begin, please note that all third quarter 2026 financial information is unaudited. During this call, management will make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please review the forward-looking and cautionary statements section at the end of our third quarter 2026 earnings press release for various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made during our call today.

All forward-looking statements made during this call reflect the current views with respect to future events, and ARKO Petroleum Corp. is under no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements made on this call, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. On this call, management will share operating results on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis.

Description of those non-GAAP financial measures that we use, such as adjusted EBITDA, discretionary cash flow, net debt and the ratio of net debt to adjusted EBITDA and the reconciliations of these measures to our results as reported in accordance with GAAP are detailed in our earnings press release or in the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Additionally, management will share profit measures for our individual business segments, along with fuel contribution, which is calculated as fuel revenue less fuel costs and excludes intercompany charges by our GPMP segment. And now I would like to turn the call over to Arie.

Arie Kotler

Thank you, Priya, and good afternoon, everyone. APC delivered a strong third quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $41 million, up 9.4% year-over-year and discretionary cash flow was $32.3 million, an increase of 22%. As you recall, in early August, we signed an agreement to acquire the business of U.S. Petroleum Partners, or USPP. USPP is expected to add scale, support our fixed margin and fee-based earnings profile and advance the growth strategy outlined at the time of our IPO. We continue to work towards closing the acquisition.

Our third quarter performance and the expected closing of the USPP acquisition reinforce the strategy we outlined at the time of our IPO. durable cash generation, disciplined capital allocation and multiple paths to earnings growth. We are expanding our scale, deepening our supplier relationships, increasing our vertical integration and putting our post-IPO financial flexibility to work in a disciplined manner.

Now turning to third quarter performance. The fuel environment continued to be volatile during the quarter. Regular gasoline ended the quarter at approximately $4.31 per gallon, about $1.32 above prior year. Diesel prices reached record levels, surpassing $6.50 in September. Against this backdrop, APC's business model remained resilient. That resilience is evident in fleet fueling, where approximately 80% of our volume is diesel.

Our fleet fueling customers are commercial operators that rely on fuel to keep their business running. As a result, even with diesel prices at record levels, demand remained relatively stable, while fuel contribution increased approximately 5%. Across APC, Stronger fuel margins and other revenues, including rental income from dealers, more than offset lower volumes, which reflected broader market trends amid elevated fuel prices.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 9.4% and discretionary cash flow increased 22% to prior year, demonstrating the durability of our platform, the stability of our cash generation and our team's ability to execute effectively through a volatile market environment. In our Wholesale segment, operating income increased 7% to $25.8 million this quarter compared to prior year as lower gallons were more than offset by a stronger blended cents per gallon margin, which increased 11.4% year-over-year, supported in part by higher prompt pay discount in the elevated fuel price environment.

Fleet Fueling operating income was $13.3 million, up 8.9% year-over-year, driven by higher fuel margins. We are also advancing cardlock growth. We added 7 new cardlock locations this year and currently have 16 sites in various stages of planning and development. We target mid- to high teens returns with low capital investment per site and continue to develop the pipeline. The Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, consistent with our $2 per share annualized target for 2026 shared at the time of our IPO. APC's durable cash generation supports our dividend capacity, which will be further strength by the expected addition of USPP's approximately $30 million of annualized adjusted EBITDA.

Before turning it to Jordan, I wanted to review why we believe the USPP business is such a strong strategic and financial fit for APC. USPP is a vertically integrated fuel supply and distribution platform, serving customers throughout the Great Lakes region. Upon closing, the business is expected to add approximately 280 million gallons of annual fuel volumes across approximately 400 dealer location increases APC's trailing 12-month volume as of September 30, 2026, by approximately 14%. We expect USPP to contribute approximately $30 million of annualized adjusted EBITDA with strong conversion to discretionary cash flow, creating a meaningful step-up in APC's scale and earnings power. The acquisition will also add assets, including terminals in Novi, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio, plus a transportation fleet that delivers more than 80% of its distributed volume. These assets will expand our position across the fuel value chain and increase our relevance with major fuel suppliers.

We continue to work towards the closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026. In summary, for the third quarter, APC delivered year-over-year earnings and cash flow growth, maintained capital allocation discipline and entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the business of USPP that is expected to meaningfully increase our scale and earnings power.

Based on our year-to-date performance, our outlook for the balance of the year and the expected closing of the USPP acquisition, we are raising our full year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $156 million to $157 million. We are executing the APC investment thesis, resilient earnings, durable cash generation discipline, grow and attractive capital return. With that, I will turn the call over to Jordan to review our third quarter financial results, balance sheet and updated outlook in greater detail.

Jordan Mann

Thank you, Arie, and good afternoon. We delivered strong third quarter results and continue to work towards the closing of the USPP acquisition, which we expect will meaningfully increase APC's scale. We also raised our full year outlook and remain focused on disciplined accretive growth and shareholder returns. Turning to our third quarter results. Net income was $13.3 million for the quarter compared with $10.1 million for the prior year period, reflecting continued operating discipline and the earnings power of our platform.

Adjusted EBITDA was $41 million for the quarter, up approximately 9.4% compared to $37.4 million in the prior year. Discretionary cash flow was $32.3 million, growing approximately 22%, reflecting strong cash conversion. Turning to our Wholesale segment. Wholesale fuel contribution increased 6.6% to $26.7 million from $25.1 million for the prior year period despite a 4.3% decline in gallons. The volume decline reflected broader market trends as elevated fuel prices weighed on demand and was partially offset by incremental gallons from dealer locations added through ARKO Corp.'s ongoing dealerization program. Blended fuel margin increased to $0.107 per gallon from $0.096 per gallon in the prior year period, reflecting -- primarily reflecting the benefit of the higher prompt pay discount associated with higher fuel costs. Moving to our Fleet Fueling segment.

Fleet fueling fuel contribution increased by 5.2% to $17.6 million for the quarter from $16.7 million last year. Fleet fueling gallons were $36.2 million versus $36.6 million last year. Blended fuel margin increased approximately 6.2% or $0.028 per gallon to $0.486 compared to the prior year period, more than offsetting modest volume declines.

Moving to our GPMP segment. GPMP fuel contribution from related party locations, meaning ARKO retail sites, was $11.5 million versus $11.2 million last year. Discretionary cash flow for the quarter was $32.3 million, an increase of 22% to the prior year period. Net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter was approximately $21.6 million compared to $25 million in the prior year period.

Looking at the balance sheet. Our financial position remains a strategic advantage. As of September 30, availability under our lines of credit was approximately $705 million. Total debt net was $188.9 million and net debt was $338.4 million. The ratio of net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 2.2x and total debt net to net income was 4.5x. As a reminder, at the end of the quarter, our average borrowing rate under the Capital One line of credit was approximately 6%.

Based on borrowings outstanding at September 30, 2026, the recent 25 basis point increase in interest rates would have a modest impact on annual interest expense. Turning to our 2026 outlook. We believe that our year-to-date results reinforce the stability, consistency and cash flow generation of our platform. We are raising our full year adjusted EBITDA guidance. We now expect full year adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $156 million to $157 million. We remain confident in the stability of our platform, its cash flow generation profile and our ability to deliver consistent earnings growth and attractive long-term shareholder returns. With that, I'll hand the call back to the operator to begin Q&A.

Operator

Your first question comes from Josh Silverstein with UBS.

Preguntas y respuestas

Joshua Silverstein

Good to see the cash flow uplift here. I was curious on a couple of things. Maybe just first on how you're thinking about maybe a normalized margin environment as we go into next year. As we do have the potential for gasoline prices to come down, do you expect that to be offset by gallons sold? I'm just trying to get a sense as to maybe what's kind of temporary in terms of some of the margin profile versus what's kind of can stick around. And obviously, as you're going and doing more of these dealerization conversions and everything, that's certainly helping you guys too.

Arie Kotler

Sure. Well, as I said before, we saw an increase in margin given that gallons are down, given the price of fuel, I have to be honest with you I don't have a crystal ball for next year, I can only follow what happened over the past few days. And yes, price of fuel are down in the last few days. But at the end of the day, we believe that this is really elastic. I mean if price of fuel will drop, we believe that gallons will increase. And what you're going to see, you're going to see an offset between prompt A discount to an increase in basically in consumption of gallons. I really believe at the end of the day that, that's going to be one against each other offset over here.

And again, this is something that we've been seeing all along over the past 7 months. As price of fuel increase, people tend to be driving less. And because of that, we actually increased the margin. So that's basically, I believe, what we're going to see going into next year. I think we are -- this is a very, very stable model at the end of the day. we're talking about with the price increase of almost 40%, 50%, you're talking about an 11% increase in fuel margin. And at the end of the day, we're talking about only $0.01. So I hope I answered your question.

Joshua Silverstein

Yes. And then maybe just a question on discretionary versus free cash flow for you guys. It seems like because of rising fuel expenses, there's been some headwinds on the working capital side. Do you expect that to normalize as well as prices come down? Or will that continue to be a bit of a headwind as long as we're at the same prices?

Arie Kotler

No, I think we're going to actually have a decrease in working capital because of that. at the end of the day, as price of fuel rise by 40% since -- 40%, 50% since February, especially on diesel, if you think about diesel, I mean, diesel went from mid-3s to mid-6s. So there is no question about that, that when price of fuel will decrease if price of fuel decrease. I'm not so confident about that, but if price of fuel will decrease, I think that's going to ease the working capital as well, and we're going to see more cash on balance sheet because of that.

Operator

Your next question comes from Wade Suki with Capital One.

Wade Suki

I think I asked this probably the last quarter, maybe even the quarter before, so we'll just make it a tradition here on M&A. I wonder if you could kind of just speak to sort of what you're seeing out there, pipeline, bid-ask spreads, any motivational changes from sellers? Any color there that you could give would be great.

Arie Kotler

Sure. Sure, Wade, and good to have you over here. I don't think a lot changes. I mean this is -- the M&A continue to be active. I don't think there is any different from basically from the prior quarter. There is no question that with price of fuel increases, many operators, small operators are in a need for additional working capital just because price of fuel increase. Some of them may not take the prompt pay discount or just basically will not capture the prompt pay discount because of that. But again, I think that the M&A market continues to be very, very active as we saw in the past basically few years. So not a lot of changes on that.

Wade Suki

Great. Maybe switch gears just a little bit, and we might be front-running tomorrow's ARKO call, so I apologize. But kind of similar, maybe you could speak to what you're seeing on the customer side behavior again some good comments on both ARKO and the APC call last quarter. So anything you could speak to there would be great.

Arie Kotler

Well, I can -- we're going to release ARKO tomorrow. But what I can tell you is that the increase in fuel prices, no question, put pressure on consumers, and that's the reason we see a decrease in -- basically in consumer driving. Like I said, on the other side, the prompt pay discount increased the margin. And as you can see, the margin over here is up from prior year from -- basically from $0.096 per gallon to $0.17 per gallon.

So overall, consumption is down on gallons, but gross profit is basically up given the high prices over here. But again, this is just -- again, this is not an ARKO or APC. Basically, this is a market environment that this is a very broader market environment right now. Everybody is facing the same thing in terms of gallons. Everybody see a decrease in gallon consumption and everybody is in a need to basically to figure out a way how to make their gross profit dollars. And like I said, that's why we're seeing an increase in profit, and this is a very dynamic market over here. So it's a macro issue.

Operator

Your last question comes from Gabe Moreen with Mizuho Securities.

Gabriel Moreen

I hear you. Can I ask about capital allocation, specifically organic CapEx? It seems like you're still pretty confident on terms of the cardlock development outlook. Can you maybe just speak to that a little bit more in the current environment? And then are there any other areas organically where you may be evaluating or reevaluating capital -- internal capital development commitments?

Arie Kotler

Sure, sure, absolutely. So in terms of the cardlock, as we discussed, as we basically mentioned at the time of the IPO, we're targeting 20 cardlocks a year. We opened basically 7 already this year. We have another 16 in the works. So we are -- in terms of making our numbers, we're going to make our numbers over here. We already have 23 in different type of between some approvals that we're looking for in development. Nothing really changed price-wise from a cost standpoint.

We've been talking about basically low cost to build a cardlock. It's probably no more than $2 million to build a card lock. So we are in between this range and maybe even a little bit lower. So nothing changed on that end.

From a capital allocation standpoint, most of our capital is actually being targeted after acquisition. as you can see over here and over the acquisition of USPP. This is really where we're going to put our balance sheet availability to work. This business, it's a very, very low CapEx business. So most of the CapEx is really going towards basically growing the business. And as I said, on the cardlock, we're targeting mid- to high-teen return.

And on those acquisitions, as you can see, those acquisitions are very accretive acquisition, again, versus our cost of capital.

Gabriel Moreen

And then maybe if I could just follow up and maybe put a finer point on the guidance range. It seems like you're expecting USPP to close sometime in 4Q. Is that potentially a material contributor in 4Q or any other puts and takes you'd guide us to kind of the rest of the year?

Arie Kotler

No, I think given our performance so far and given that -- if you remember, Gabe, at the time of the IPO, we were -- we basically told the market that we will actually bring an acquisition in Q4, and this acquisition will deliver approximately $5 million in order to get to the $156 million, given that I believe we are working towards closing of the USPP acquisition and given where we are with our results for the 9 months, we felt that we will be able to achieve our $156 million plus, and that's why we raised our guidance over here.

Operator

That concludes our Q&A. I will now hand the call back over to Arie Kotler for closing remarks.

Arie Kotler

Thank you, operator. APC is delivering on the strategy we outlined at the time of our IPO just 9 months ago. In the third quarter, we generated stronger year-over-year earnings growth, demonstrated the resilience of our predominantly fixed margin business model, entered into an asset purchase agreement and are working towards the closing of this highly strategic acquisition that is expected to meaningfully expand our scale and infrastructure, and we are raising our full year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance. We believe that USPP acquisition will further increase our earning power and cash flow profile, expand vertical integration and create additional opportunities for operating efficiencies margin capture and long-term growth.

We remain focused on converting earnings to cash, maintaining leverage within our target range and allocating capital to the highest return opportunities. That disciplined framework allow us to invest in growth, support an attractive dividend and create sustainable long-term value for our shareholders. I want to thank our team for their hard work and the execution and to our shareholders for their continued confidence in our strategy. Thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's teleconference. Please disconnect your lines, and have a wonderful day.