06:39 AM EDT, 09/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Casey's General Stores (CASY) shares declined early Thursday as the convenience store operator's fiscal first-quarter revenue fell short of market estimates while earnings exceeded Street expectations.

Net income came in at $4.83 per share for the quarter ended July, up from $4.52 a year earlier, the company said late Wednesday, while the consensus on Capital IQ was for $4.48. Revenue advanced to nearly $4.1 billion from $3.87 billion last year, but missed the Street's view for $4.15 billion. The stock was down 1.3% in premarket activity.

Inside same-store sales gained 2.3% buoyed by the prepared food and dispensed beverage segment, Chief Executive Darren Rebelez said in a statement. Grocery and general merchandise same-store sales inclined 1.6%, below the 3.8% rise modeled by five Capital IQ-polled analysts.

"Casey's started the fiscal year off on the right foot and delivered another solid quarter highlighted by strong inside gross profit growth," according to Rebelez. "Our fuel team continues to balance volume and margin as they delivered positive same-store fuel gallons while also achieving over ($0.40) per gallon fuel margin."

Operating expenses rose to $609.5 million from $560.9 million in the 2023 quarter, with about 5% of the increase due to the company running 138 more stores versus last year. Casey's constructed 10 new stores during the quarter and closed 3 branches.

In July, Casey's agreed to acquire CEFCO Convenience Stores' parent Fikes Wholesale for $1.15 billion in cash. The deal, which includes 198 stores and associated assets, is expected to complete in the 2024 calendar year.

As a result of the transaction, the company now expects its store growth to be about 270 units in fiscal 2025, compared with its prior forecast to add at least 100 stores. Casey's continues to anticipate inside same-store sales to increase by 3% to 5% for the ongoing year. It also reiterated its outlook for same-store fuel gallons sold to be down 1% to up 1%, and operating expenses to rise by about 6% to 8%.