3 Big Numbers is a weekly column that looks at a few key details from around the c-store industry.
Seven & i Holdings, parent company of 7-Eleven, reported its fiscal first-quarter results Thursday — and the positive results prompted us to take a closer look.
Several metrics came in above expectations, including c-store merchandise sales, operating income and EBITDA, according to the company’s earnings presentation. The numbers were good enough that Seven & i even revised its full-year guidance upwards.
The retailer said in its earnings report last quarter that it was seeing tangible results from its transformation plan. It now seems like those plans are continuing to bear fruit.
In this week’s “3 Big Numbers” we take a closer look at some highlights from Seven & i’s financial results for fiscal Q1 2026.
122.4%
The amount Seven & i’s operating income rose year over year in fiscal Q1.
Seven & i reported operating income of over 105 billion yen for Q1 across all of its business segments, according to its earnings presentation. That’s up 122.4% from the 47 billion yen it reported in the same quarter last year.
That wasn’t the only figure to more than double from Q1 2025. Earnings per share also rose 118.4%
Those numbers aren’t just good — CEO Stephen Dacus said in the earnings release that both figures reached “record highs” during Q1.
1.4%
7-Eleven’s year over year same-store merchandise sales growth in Q1.
Drilling down to the retailer’s North American operations, the segment reported 1.4% same-store merchandise sales growth for Q1.
While that figure isn’t as eye-catching as doubling operating income, it’s a notable upswing from the dismal same-store sales the company reported in fiscal 2025. The retailer only saw one quarter of same-store merchandise growth during that period, a 0.5% gain in Q3, according to the company’s earnings presentation.
The retailer clearly hopes to continue the momentum with its strategic plan, which includes closing underperforming stores, opening new ones, remodeling select locations, improving the product assortment and adding more customer loyalty initiatives.
$349 million
7-Eleven’s year-over-year fuel sales increase in North America.
7-Eleven’s fuel sales also brought a boost to Seven & i’s financial results in Q1, growing by $349 million in Q1, according to the earnings presentation.
The c-store chain saw “higher fuel margins driven by significant volatility in energy commodity markets during the quarter,” according to the company’s earnings statement. Conflicts in Iran and Russia have impacted the flow of oil, leading to the average price of gas in the U.S. jumping by over a dollar a gallon from February to May of this year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
While fuel prices cooled in June, they remain elevated compared to the start of the year, which could be a further boon to 7-Eleven and other retailers.
