CrossAmerica Partners LP

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Cross America Partners second quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will begin a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star followed by the number zero for the operator. This call is being recorded on Thursday, August 6, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Randy Palmer, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, and thank you for joining the Cross America Partners second quarter 2026 earnings call. With me today are Maura Topper, CEO and President, and Jon Benfield, Chief Financial Officer. We'll start off the call today with Maura providing some opening comments and an overview of Cross America's operational performance for the second quarter, and then Jon will discuss the financial results. We'll then open up the call to questions. Today's call will follow presentation slides that are available as part of the webcast. and are posted on the Cross America website. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that today's call, including the question and answer session, may include forward-looking statements regarding expected revenue, future plans, future operational metrics and opportunities and expectations of the organization. There could be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs and projections will be achieved or that actual results will not differ from expectations. Please see Cross America's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for discussion of important factors that could affect our actual results. Forward-looking statements represent the judgment of Cross America's management as of today's date, and the organization disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements. During today's call, we may also provide certain performance measures that do not conform to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. We provided schedules that reconcile these non-GAAP measures with our reported results on a GAAP basis as part of our earnings press release. Today's call is being webcast, and a recording of this conference call will be available on the Across America website for a period of 60 days. With that, I will now turn the call over to Maura.

Thank you, Randy. Thank you to everyone joining us this morning. We appreciate you making the time to be with us today. I wanted to start out by saying that I'm happy to now introduce John Benfield as our Chief Financial Officer, no longer with the interim tag. I am excited that he has accepted this role and look forward to continuing to work with him across all of Cross America's strategic priorities. He will be going through the quarterly financials in more detail after my comments, as he did last quarter. Our recently completed second quarter continues to build on many of the key momentum areas we are focusing on at Cross America. Active control over retail fuel pricing where possible, improving the image and offerings in our convenience store locations, acting as an effective and efficient wholesale fuel supplier to our customers across the country, and actively preparing the portfolio for sustainable success well into the future. In spite of a volatile, broader operating environment during the quarter, our team remained focused on the aspects of the business that we can control, and I'm proud today for John and I to be able to talk about a number of our wins on the merchandise margin, cost management, and balance sheet fronts. Now, if you'll turn to slide four, I will review some of the operating highlights of our second quarter. Overall, we have continued our strong start to 2026, building on a solid first quarter by generating $51.8 million of adjusted EBITDA during the second quarter, a 40% increase when compared to the second quarter of 2025. We benefited from strong gross profits from both our retail and wholesale segments driven by motor fuel margins along with a meaningful increase in the merchandise margin percentage in our retail segment and focused expense control across our operations. For the second quarter of 2026, our retail segment gross profit increased 13% to $85.7 million compared to $76.1 million in the second quarter of 2025. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in motor fuel gross profit along with, to a lesser extent, growth in merchandise gross profit and other revenue. For the quarter, our retail fuel gross profit increased $7.7 million compared to the second quarter of 2025. As we are all aware, the second quarter of 2026 was marked by a generally rising fuel price environment with the average cost of a gallon of gasoline across the country reaching the high of more than $4.50 per gallon in late May. Prices at the pump did moderate in June, though underlying input costs remained volatile throughout the quarter. This combination of elevated prices at the pump and underlying input volatility resulted in a more challenging fuel volume quarter, offset by elevated fuel margins. On a same-store basis, our retail segment reported an 11% decline in volume year-over-year, with diverging results across the two classes of trade within our retail segment. Same-store volume at our company-operated locations was down approximately 8% for the quarter, with our commissioned same-store volume decline more elevated, resulting in the segment's overall volume performance. Our company-operated site performance trailed industry volume trends modestly throughout the quarter, though the pattern we experienced closely tracked the broader industry. With a soft April, a more challenged May, while prices were rising, and then some improvement in June as prices at the pump also moderated, though remained at elevated levels compared to the prior year. In our commission class of trade, we are continuing to work to balance fuel volume and margin, though we were impacted by challenges in a select number of markets in the quarter that further challenged our results. June volume trends in both classes of trade have generally persisted during the start of the third quarter. Turning to our fuel margins in our retail segment, on a cents per gallon basis, we earned 49.2 cents per gallon in the second quarter of 2026 compared to 37 cents per gallon in the second quarter of last year. As I mentioned earlier, the high level of fuel input cost volatility was the primary driver of elevated fuel margins throughout the quarter. Retailers generally continued to quickly transmit increased costs to the pump, providing a practical floor to fuel margins during this period, which benefited our results. Fuel margins have generally moderated as we have started the third quarter, though we and the industry continue to experience bouts of input cost volatility with their resulting impact on margins. With regards to fuel gross profit generally, Our team remains focused on ensuring our retail locations are competitively priced to balance long-term customer loyalty with the day-to-day price volatility we are currently experiencing. We continue to believe in our strategic focus of controlling retail fuel pricing wherever possible to ensure our locations remain top of mind for customers in all price environments. Moving from our retail fuel operations to our store sales, Our second quarter 2026 results continued a series of important, positive performance trends in this critical area of our business. On a same store basis, our overall inside sales were relatively flat for the second quarter compared to the prior year, with growth in the areas of other tobacco products and food, both branded and proprietary, also by slow customer traffic in other areas. Fuel demand does typically correlate to merchandise sales, So our ability to offset general customer traffic trends with the important investments we've made in recent years to expand our food operations at locations across our company operating footprint contributed to our results this quarter. We also saw a strong increase in the second quarter in our merchandise margin percentage. We reported a merchandise margin gross profit percentage of 29.5%, up 130 basis points from the prior year. We benefited from a better merchandise mix and better execution in some of our core categories, primarily the important food and beverage categories, as well as cigarettes and other tobacco products. The strong sales and margin percentage results contributed to an increase in our merchandise gross profit of 2% year-over-year to $31 million. which we achieved in spite of a 9% decline in average company-operated site count during the quarter compared to the second quarter of 2025. John will touch on this more in his comments, but we also had a very positive quarter focusing on expense control in our retail locations. Our results in this area take a great amount of focus from our operations team, as well as technology-assisted improvements that are benefiting our operations. Moving on to the wholesale segment, for the second quarter of 2026, our wholesale segment generated gross profit of $27.1 million compared to $24.9 million in the second quarter of 2025, a 9% increase. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in fuel margin per gallon, partially offset by a decline in fuel volume, and to a small extent, rental income. The latter primarily driven by our class of trade change activities. Our wholesale motor fuel growth profit increased 17% to $17.8 million in the second quarter of 2026 from $15.2 million in the second quarter of 2025. This was driven by a 31% increase in fuel margin per gallon, offset by an 11% decline in volume for the quarter. Wholesale segment volume during the second quarter was impacted by many of the same challenges due to elevated prices that I discussed in my comments on the retail segment. Our same store performance in the wholesale segment was down approximately 8% year over year, so in line with our company operating results. But the remaining wholesale segment volume decline primarily due to the net loss of independent dealer contracts. Our second quarter fuel margin of 11.1 cents per gallon was a strong quarter as we continued to benefit from our fuel sourcing efforts and, in this quarter, higher payment terms discounts associated with our higher fuel costs in 2026. We also continued with our real estate optimization work during the second quarter, selling five properties and realizing approximately $2.7 million in proceeds. As we discussed in February, 2025 was our biggest year ever in regards to property sales. We are continuing our targeted real estate sales efforts in 2026, and we continue to have a strong pipeline for the balance of the year, though at a lower level than in 2025. Concluding my comments, the second quarter continued a strong operating start to the year for Cross America. Our priorities remain generating strong and durable cash flows from our operations, maintaining a disciplined approach to our balance sheet and investing in the quality and competitiveness of our network. Before I turn it over to John, I want to be sure to thank our team members around the country for their hard work and dedication this quarter. Managing a business as diverse as ours always requires focus and effort from our team members in our stores and around the country, especially in moments of volatility like we are experiencing in 2026. And our leadership team appreciates all of your hard work. With that, I will turn it over to Jon for a more detailed financial review.

Thank you, Maura. First of all, I feel deeply honored and blessed to serve as CFO, and I'm excited to work more closely with the broader organization in this expanded role. Now, if you would please turn to slide six, I'll go over our second quarter financial results. We reported net income of $20.8 million. and adjusted EBITDA of $51.8 million for the second quarter of 2026 compared to net income of $25.2 million and adjusted EBITDA of $37.1 million for the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA increased 40% or $14.7 million year over year. The decline in net income was primarily driven by $29.7 million in net gains that occurred during the second quarter of 2025 in connection with our ongoing real estate optimization efforts compared to $1.1 million in net gains in the second quarter of 2026, partially offset by a decline in interest expense from $12.6 million for the second quarter of 2025 to $11.3 million for the second quarter of 2026. Net income also benefited from lower impairment charges included in depreciation, amortization, and accretion expense. As I mentioned, adjusted EBITDA increased significantly compared to the prior year period. As Maura noted in her comments, this increase was driven by a series of positive factors across the business, including an increase in motor fuel margin per gallon in both the retail and wholesale segments, an increase in merchandise gross profit in the retail segment, as well as a decline in operating expenses across both segments. Our distributable cash flow for the second quarter of 2026 was $33.6 million, a solid increase over the $22.4 million for the second quarter of 2025. The increase in distributable cash flow was primarily due to a higher adjusted EBITDA along with lower cash interest expense partially offset by higher sustaining capital expenditures and current income tax expense. The decline in interest expense we experienced during the quarter was due to a lower average interest rate and a lower average outstanding debt balance on our credit facility due to our strong results combined with our asset sales. Our distribution coverage ratio for the second quarter of 2026 was 1.68 times compared to 1.12 times for the same period of 2025. For the trailing 12 months, our distribution coverage ratio was 1.39 times compared to 1.00 times for the trailing 12 months and the June 30th, 2025. During the second quarter of 2026, the partnership paid a distribution of 52.5 cents per unit. Turning to the expense portion of our operations, in total across both segments, we reported operating expenses for the second quarter of 2026 of $55 million, a $2.9 million decrease year over year, and our seventh consecutive quarter of declining operating expenses across the organization. Retail segment operating expenses for the second quarter declined $2.1 million, or 4%, and wholesale segment operating expenses declined by $0.8 million or 11%. In our retail segment, our average segment site count was down approximately 7% year over year. On a same store, store level basis, operating expenses in our retail segment were down approximately 3% for the second quarter of 2026 compared to the second quarter of 2025. The decline was primarily driven by reduced store-level employment costs as we remain focused on efficient staffing in our stores. Returning to our wholesale segment, operating expenses declined by $0.8 million, or 11% for the quarter. This decline was driven primarily by the decline in lessee dealer or controlled site count within the segment year-over-year due to asset sales and, to a lesser extent, conversions to our retail class of trades. We reported G&A expenses for the quarter of $6.8 million, a slight increase year over year, primarily driven by higher legal fees and equity compensation expense. We remain focused across the organization on efficient expense management at our locations, as well as at the corporate level, ensuring that we are investing in customer-facing areas at our locations that will drive the long-term health and sustainability of our sites, and driving operational efficiencies in our above store operations. Moving to the next slide, we spent a total of $7.4 million on capital expenditures during the second quarter with $2.5 million of that total being growth-related capital expenditures and $4.9 million of that being sustaining capital expenditures. Given our strong results for the first six months of the year, we accelerated some maintenance capital spending this quarter with a continued focus on supporting the resiliency of our sites. Regarding our growth capital spending, we remain focused on our company-operated locations, especially in food-related investments that will contribute to our merchandise sales and margin results. One additional item I wanted to touch on is that we entered into an amendment of our credit facility on July 15th. The amendment, among other things, extends the maturity date from March 31st to July 15th, 2031, and removes the SOFR credit spread adjustment. You can find additional details regarding this amendment in our Form 8K filing filed with the SEC on July 16th. Turning to our balance sheet, the underlying performance of our segments, along with asset sale activities that Maura noted in her comments, helped us reduce our credit facility balance by approximately $10 million during the quarter. The decrease in our balance, combined with our strong results here in 2026, resulted in a decrease in our credit facility defined leverage ratio to 3.57 times compared to 3.65 times as of June 30, 2025. Our management team remains focused on the cash flow generation profile of our business, utilizing our normal course operations and our targeted real estate optimization efforts to manage our leverage ratio at approximately four times on a credit facility defined basis. A lower average interest rate environment also helped improve our interest expense during the second quarter of 2026. Our cash interest declined from $12.1 million for the second quarter of 2025 to $10.9 million in the second quarter of 2026. Our existing interest rate swap portfolio continues to benefit us as well. At this time, about 60% of our current credit facility balance is swapped to a fixed rate of approximately 3.4% blended, and our effective interest rate on the total credit facility at the end of the second quarter was 5.5%. In conclusion, the partnership has had a strong first half of 2026 and is positioned for continued success as we move deeper into the year. Our strong results, along with our asset sales, enabled us to reduce our debt by $20 million this year so far, while also positioning our portfolio to generate durable and consistent cash flows into the future. We are looking forward to the back half of the year, maintaining a strong balance sheet and generating value for our unit holders. With that, we will open it up for questions.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star button followed by the number one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a prompt that your hand has been raised. If you wish to decline from the polling process, please press the star button followed by the number two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment, please, for your first question.

Being that we don't have any questions for the moment, thank you everyone for joining us here this morning. Should you have any follow-up questions, please feel free to reach out. Have a great day.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and please ask that you disconnect your lines.

Have a great day.