Although its net income dropped for the third straight fiscal year, Murphy USA saw several bright spots in 2025.
The company exceeded its target of opening 50 new convenience stores last year — 29 of which debuted in Q4 — making Murphy “well positioned for sustainable organic growth in the years ahead,” President and CEO Mindy West said in Murphy’s earnings report released last week. In pre-recorded earnings comments, interim CFO Donnie Smith said that Murphy is on track to deliver 45 to 55 new stores in 2026, furthering the company’s goal to build 500 or more new stores over the next decade.
Besides new store growth, Murphy saw merchandise contribution dollars increase more than 4% for the year, sparked by strong performances once again in tobacco, according to its earnings report. Smith said in the earnings comments those improvements came from “robust promotional activity and steadfast category management.”
But West, recognizing industry challenges and competition, also acknowledged in the earnings comments that she wants Murphy to “innovate and challenge the status quo.”
West emphasized during Thursday’s call that Murphy is pushing for “quicker collaboration” and “more nimble decision making” than it’s had in the past. In its latest executive shuffle, where the company named three new SVPs, West said she’s aiming to make leadership’s responsibilities clearer, remove inefficient reporting structures and increase accountability.
“It's really just a culture shift, which I think is necessary to make sure that we are agile and adaptable and really unafraid to challenge ourselves and stretch further and try new things,” West said during the call.
West told investors last week to expect Murphy to “be a bit more innovative going forward.” She said Murphy needs to reduce its reliance on fuel and tobacco while figuring out how to attract and retain new customers, grow store trips and spending, and make its employee experience easier and more productive.
“We’re going to attack all of those types of opportunities,” West said during the call.
Getting back to basics with QuickChek
Meanwhile, at QuickChek, the 151-store chain Murphy acquired back in 2021, innovation needs to be approached a bit more strategically, West said.
The CEO said QuickChek is showing strong sales but continues to be pressured by margins and traffic. She added that QuickChek is “refocusing on the fundamentals,” particularly the need to be more disciplined around balancing innovation with cost and margin control.
“Execution and ability to scale are as important as idea generation, because ideas which can't be implemented well or executed consistently are actually a bad idea,” West said. She did not call out any ideas specifically.
West emphasized that QuickChek needs to build a business model that “simplifies operation, reduces complexity” and “enhances” the customer experience. She said that Murphy is in the process of simplifying QuickChek’s food menu and “rationalizing the assortment based on performance” instead of legacy, which is what it’s usually done in the past.
“While growth is important, we have to earn money."
Mindy West
President and CEO, Murphy USA, in reference to QuickChek.
A Murphy spokesperson did not respond by press time when asked to share more specifics on these rationalization efforts.
“While growth is important, we have to earn money,” West said of QuickChek.
In addition to Murphy’s latest executive changes, the company also appointed new leadership at QuickChek to help spearhead this growth. A company spokesperson confirmed that Murphy veteran Don Williams was promoted last month to vice president of sales and operations for the East Coast chain.
“I really like where the team is headed, and I believe they're focused on the right thing,” West said.
