We came across General Stores, Inc about Casey. (Casy) bullish paper, two alternatives to natural capital. In this article, we will summarize Bulls' paper on Casy. Casey's General Stores, Inc. (Casy) share as of May 7, trading at $465.96^Th. According to Yahoo Finance, Casy's backward and forward P/E are 32.47 and 29.50, respectively.

A truck parked at a gas station with its fuel tank filled from the pump.

Casey’s general store represents a fascinating and unconventional growth story in the convenience retail and catering landscape, especially due to its dominance in rural America. In a traditionally unremarkable business (gas radio stations relying on tobacco and fuel sales to decline), Casey's has violated the odds by leaning towards high-definition food products. It focuses on strategies in low-competitive areas, with 72% of towns positioning it as not only surviving, but also thriving by offering pizza made from paired pizza and a strong bakery lineup. This food-first approach dates back to 1984, when it transformed Casey's into the fifth largest pizza chain in the U.S. through kitchen numbers, whose food program is now at the heart of the company's identity and economics. This offers not only improves unit economics in traffic areas, but also attracts customer loyalty, sometimes turning Casey into a dinner destination rather than just gasoline parking.

The management transition in 2019 introduces leadership in the context of IHOP and 7-11 and injects new strategic and operational disciplines. Under CEO Darren Rebelez, Casey's launched a three-year strategic plan that focuses on expanding store counts, modernizing food products, and improving operational efficiency, including reducing employee time. Menu experiments, such as the introduction of thin-skinned pizza and chicken wings, are designed to capture larger wallet sharing while avoiding food margin cannibalization – so far, this risk has not been achieved. The company's growth-by-one strategy has accelerated rapidly, adding 154 stores in fiscal 24 years, most of which have restricted its largest acquisition ever through mergers and acquisitions: Fikes Wholesale (CEFCO), with 198 locations, many in Texas. The acquisition not only brings Casey's into a new location, but also offers synergistic potential as CEFCO's 125 stores already have kitchens for pizza promotion and profit improvements.

Despite these advantages, skeptics question whether Casey’s acquisition stripes could be overly undue. But the company's manageable leverage (~2x EBITDA), a long growth runway (which is the size of a Couche-tard or 7-11), and the operating advantages embedded in fresh food make this fear seem exaggerated. In fact, Casey's rural heritage has become a competitive force as it enters competitors like Murphy USA that do not offer food preparation. Casey’s unique combination of fuel, convenience and compelling food makes it durable and difficult for other chains to replicate quickly, making it one of the more differentiated retail growth stories in the market today.