Dive Brief:
- Alimentation Couche-Tard delivered its “best performance in years” in the U.S. during fiscal 2026, President and CEO Alex Miller said during the convenience retailer’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
- The Circle K parent company saw year-over-year gains across nearly every major U.S. metric, including total revenue, gross profit and merchandising and fuel sales, according to its earnings report.
- Canada-based Couche-Tard has made the U.S. a central focus of its growth strategy in recent years. The company’s more than 7,300 U.S. convenience stores account for nearly half of its global footprint.
Dive Insight:
In the U.S., full-year merchandise and service revenue increased 6.3%, while merchandise and service gross profit rose 8%. Miller attributed the gains largely to the company’s Fresh Food, Fast program, along with strong packaged beverage and nicotine sales.
The performance aligns with Couche-Tard’s aggressive U.S. growth plans, as the retailer is working to add 750 stores by 2031 and accelerate foodservice revenue to record growth.
But fuel was a more surprising standout.
U.S. fuel revenue increased 4.5% for the year, while fuel profits climbed 10.3%. Growth skyrocketed in the fourth quarter, with fuel revenue and margins rising roughly 23% and 27% year over year, respectively.
When an analyst asked why Couche-Tard has seen so much success in fuel during such a volatile period, especially compared to what standard industry pricing data suggests, Miller credited advantages in Couche-Tard’s integrated supply chain.
“It’s really about building optionality that gives us sourcing choices when the market becomes volatile and/or constrained,” Miller said. “You see us executing against that and utilizing that optionality.”
The results reinforce Couche-Tard’s Core + More strategy, in which the company is focused on strengthening key platforms while pursuing targeted investment opportunities that drive profitability and growth.
“The strategy is clearly working,” Miller said. “We are delivering strong execution against our growth algorithm in a profitable and sustainable way.”
