Murphy USA Q2 2026 Earnings: Wider Fuel Margins Lift Profit

Murphy USA (NYSE: MUSA) reported Q2 2026 operating revenue of $6.81 billion, up about 36.0% from $5.01 billion a year earlier, while diluted EPS rose about 53.1% to $11.27 from $7.36. Net income increased 43.6% to $209.1 million as wider fuel margins, higher gallons and merchandise growth more than offset increased operating costs, taxes, depreciation and interest.

Core Earnings Data

Petroleum product sales accounted for most of the revenue increase, rising to $5.55 billion from $3.85 billion. Merchandise sales grew more moderately to $1.13 billion, making fuel contribution and margin trends more informative than consolidated revenue alone when assessing operating performance.

Total fuel contribution increased 32.0%, supported by higher retail fuel margins, greater volumes and improved fuel supply contribution, including renewable identification numbers, or RINs. These gains drove operating income, net income and adjusted EBITDA higher despite rising expenses.

Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure.

Business and Segment Performance

Fuel margins were the main earnings driver

Total fuel contribution reached $518.8 million, with contribution per gallon increasing to 40.6 cents from 32.0 cents. Retail fuel margin expanded to 35.1 cents per gallon from 29.2 cents, while fuel supply contribution including RINs rose to 5.5 cents from 2.8 cents per gallon.

Chainwide retail fuel volume increased 3.9% to 1.28 billion gallons, while same-store volume rose 0.5%. The much larger increase in fuel contribution relative to volume shows that margin expansion, rather than gallons alone, was the central driver. Murphy USA attributed the higher fuel supply contribution, including RINs, primarily to market-driven pricing and the timing of inventory activity.

Merchandise delivered modest growth with a mixed sales mix

Merchandise sales increased about 3.6% to $1.13 billion, while merchandise contribution rose 4.0% to $227.4 million. Unit margin improved slightly to 20.1% from 20.0%, and same-store merchandise contribution increased 2.2%.

Nicotine same-store sales grew 2.4%, compared with a 1.4% decline in non-nicotine same-store sales. Total nicotine contribution dollars increased 6.1%, while non-nicotine contribution dollars rose 2.9%, indicating that nicotine products provided the stronger contribution growth.

Murphy USA opened six new-to-industry stores and closed three locations during the quarter, producing a net increase of three. The company ended June with 1,806 stores and had 36 projects under construction, including four raze-and-rebuild locations.

Higher Fuel Margins Outweighed Payment-Fee and Overhead Pressure

Store and other operating expenses increased $33.5 million to $308.7 million. Higher payment fees accounted for two-thirds of that increase as higher retail fuel prices raised card-processing costs. Employee-related costs at existing and new stores also increased, although store operating expense excluding payment fees and rent rose a more limited 1.1% on an average-per-store-month basis.

SG&A increased $9.6 million to $60.5 million because of higher employee-related expenses and incentive accruals. Depreciation and amortization rose to $72.2 million from $66.0 million, while interest expense increased to $29.3 million from $27.8 million. The expansion in fuel and merchandise contribution was sufficient to absorb these higher costs and still produce faster profit growth.

Balance Sheet and Capital Allocation

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $175.4 million at June 30, 2026, compared with $54.1 million one year earlier. Long-term debt, including finance lease obligations, increased to $2.17 billion from $2.07 billion.

During May, Murphy USA issued $500 million of 5.875% senior notes due in 2034. It used most of the net proceeds to retire $300 million of 5.625% senior notes due in 2027 and reduce its revolving credit balance; the revolver was undrawn at quarter-end.

The company repurchased approximately 143,100 shares for $76.8 million at an average price of $536.60 during the quarter. It also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.64 per share, up 28.0% year over year, for a total quarterly cash payment of $11.8 million.

2026 Guidance

Most original operating ranges were maintained, but management narrowed several expectations toward either the low or high end. Lower-end expectations for store operating costs and SG&A provide some expense support, while merchandise contribution is also expected near the low end and capital spending near the high end.

Management also presented a conditional full-year scenario based on second-half all-in fuel margins averaging 35 cents per gallon, compared with 37.9 cents in the first half. Under that assumption, Murphy USA expects approximately $636 million of net income and $1.25 billion of adjusted EBITDA for 2026.

Recent Insider Transactions

The supplied six-month insider summary shows 32,563 shares purchased across 29 transactions and 64,520 shares sold across 15 transactions. That represents a net 31,957 shares sold, or a 1.70% reduction, while total insider holdings were reported at 1.81 million shares.

Recent records include sales, derivative exercises and a stock gift, which are distinct transaction types.

A separate May 5 entry for Scott G. Woodward contained no transaction type or value in the supplied data and is therefore omitted.

Risks Investors Need to Watch

• Fuel-margin volatility: The full-year earnings scenario assumes a second-half all-in fuel margin of 35 cents per gallon. Results could vary if market-driven fuel margins differ materially from that assumption.
• Fuel demand: Despite positive Q2 same-store gallons, full-year same-store fuel volume guidance remains down 3.0% to 1.0%, with management saying the outcome depends heavily on the macro fuel environment.
• Payment and labor costs: Higher retail fuel prices increased payment fees, while employee-related expenses affected both store operating costs and SG&A.
• Merchandise mix: Merchandise contribution is expected near the low end of guidance, and Q2 non-nicotine same-store sales declined even as nicotine sales grew.
• Expansion execution: Capital expenditures are expected near the high end of guidance, while new-store additions are trending toward the low end and raze-and-rebuild activity is expected to be well below the original maximum.

Summary

Murphy USA’s Q2 2026 earnings growth was primarily a fuel-margin story: volume increased, but the expansion in contribution per gallon had the larger effect on profit. Merchandise provided a smaller positive contribution, while payment fees, employee costs and other expenses remained offsets. The main items to monitor in the second half are fuel-margin durability, fuel volumes, merchandise contribution and the execution of a capital program expected near the high end of guidance.