Gasoline And Pizza Are Casey's General Stores' Secret Weapons Against The Amazon-Effect

Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN
has proven itself a tough competitor to retail companies while playing a large part in disappointing retail earnings over the past few quarters. Some retail companies have unique product bases that Amazon may never be able to compete with, however.

Fresh Pizza And Gasoline

Bank of America's Daniel O'Hare initiated Casey's General Stores Inc CASY at Buy with a $150.00 price objective after applauding Casey's relatively unique products compared to Amazon: gas and fresh pizza.

A Convenience Store Success Story

"Casey's has operated highly successful convenience stores (c-stores) for over four decades," said the analyst. The company has grown to become the ninth largest convenience store (c-store) operator and the fifth largest seller of pizza in the United States, according to O'Hare.

Fresh-made pizza accounts for about 70 percent of the company's total annual sales. The large exposure to gasoline and fresh pizza keep Casey's relatively unaffected by the Amazon invasion.

Related Link: Rising Bio-Fuel And Food Prices: Casey's General Stores Upgraded To Buy, Conviction List At Goldman Sachs

Strong Fuel Growth

"We see support for above average fuel gross profit dollars," stated O'Hare. The analyst cited several drivers between his assumption:

  • Improving backdrop for low and middle income consumers
  • Outperformance of Casey's fuel gallon growth vs. total U.S. fuel supply
  • Higher expected miles driven per consumer
  • Successful fuel promotions including Pizza to Pump and Hy-Vee's Fuel Saver
  • Higher renewable identification numbers (RINs) prices could lead to higher fuel margins from blending renewable fuel.

Additionally, since Casey's orders are only 7 percent online vs. Domino's Pizza, Inc. DPZ's 50 percent, there's significant room for a "mix-shift benefit to higher ticket online sales," according to O'Hare.

At time of writing, Casey's was seen trading slightly up by 0.54 percent on the day at $134.24.

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Posted In: Analyst ColorLong IdeasPrice TargetCommoditiesInitiationRestaurantsMarketsAnalyst RatingsTrading IdeasGeneralBank of AmericaDaniel O'Hare
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