CrossAmerica Partners LP Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
Reported First Quarter of 2026 Net Income of $10.7 million, Adjusted EBITDA of $35.1 million and Distributable Cash Flow of $21.5 million compared to a Net Loss of $7.1 million, Adjusted EBITDA of $24.3 million and Distributable Cash Flow of $9.1 million for the First Quarter of 2025
Reported First Quarter of 2026 Gross Profit for the Retail Segment of $74.3 million compared to $63.2 million of Gross Profit for the First Quarter of 2025 and First Quarter of 2026 Gross Profit for the Wholesale Segment of $23.3 million compared to $26.7 million of Gross Profit for the First Quarter of 2025
Leverage, as defined in the CAPL Credit Facility, was 3.35 times as of March 31, 2026, compared to 4.27 times as of March 31, 2025
The Distribution Coverage Ratio for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2026 was 1.25 times compared to 1.04 times for the comparable period of 2025
The Board of Directors of CrossAmerica's General Partner declared a quarterly distribution of $0.5250 per limited partner unit attributable to the First Quarter of 2026
Appointed Maura Topper as Chief Executive Officer and President and Jon Benfield as Interim Chief Financial Officer effective March 2, 2026
Allentown, PA May 6, 2026, CrossAmerica Partners LP (NYSE:CAPL) ("CrossAmerica" or the "Partnership"), a leading wholesale fuels distributor, convenience store operator, and owner and lessor of real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026.
"We started the new year with a strong first quarter generating a record level of Adjusted EBITDA for the Partnership, as our business benefited from the strategic initiatives we have been focused on for the last several years," said Maura Topper, CEO and President of CrossAmerica. "Our increased exposure to retail operations drove strong motor fuel and merchandise gross profit performance, while our team's disciplined focus on cost management helped us deliver solid results across the business. The fuels market has experienced significant volatility over the past several weeks, and I'm proud of how our team has executed through it, our model and our people are well-suited to navigate this kind of environment. We also continued to pay down our credit facility during the quarter, improving our interest expense and leverage, and further strengthening our balance sheet as we look ahead to the remainder of 2026."
First Quarter Results
Consolidated Results
Key Operating Metrics
Q1 2026
Q1 2025
Net Income (Loss)
$10.7M
($7.1M)
Adjusted EBITDA
$35.1M
$24.3M
Distributable Cash Flow
$21.5M
$9.1M
Distribution Coverage Ratio: Current Quarter
1.07x
0.46x
Distribution Coverage Ratio: Trailing 12 Months
1.25x
1.04x
CrossAmerica reported increases in Net Income (Loss), Adjusted EBITDA, Distributable Cash Flow and Distribution Coverage for the first quarter of 2026 compared to the first quarter of 2025. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by an increase in motor fuel margin per gallon and an increase in merchandise gross profit in the retail segment and an overall decline in operating and general and administrative expenses, partially offset by a decline in gross profit for the wholesale segment. The increase for the first quarter of 2026 in Net Income, Distributable Cash Flow and Distribution Coverage was primarily driven by the increase in Adjusted EBITDA noted above in addition to a $2.1 million decrease in interest expense due to a lower average interest rate along with a lower average outstanding debt balance.
Retail Segment
Key Operating Metrics
Q1 2026
Q1 2025
Retail segment gross profit
$74.3M
$63.2M
Retail segment motor fuel gallons distributed
117.7M
126.5M
Same store motor fuel gallons distributed
108.5M
117.1M
Retail segment motor fuel gross profit
$39.9M
$31.2M
Retail segment margin per gallon, before deducting credit card fees and commissions
$
0.437
$
0.339
Same store merchandise sales excluding cigarettes*
$59.6M
$58.3M
Merchandise gross profit*
$27.0M
$24.9M
Merchandise gross profit percentage*
29.7
%
27.9
%
Operating Expenses
$50.0M
$51.7M
Retail Sites (average for period)
576
599
*Includes only company operated retail sites
For the first quarter of 2026, the retail segment generated an 18% increase in gross profit compared to the first quarter of 2025, primarily due to increases in both motor fuel and merchandise gross profit compared to the prior year.
The motor fuel gross profit for the retail segment increased $8.7 million or 28%, attributable to a 29% increase in the margin per gallon for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to the same period in 2025. The increase in margin per gallon was primarily driven by movements in crude oil prices within the two periods and overall market volatility. The margin per gallon increase was partially offset by a motor fuel volume decrease of 7% driven by a 4% decrease in the average retail site count due to CrossAmerica's ongoing portfolio optimization efforts, as well as a decline in volume for the base business. Same store retail segment fuel volume for the first quarter of 2026 declined 7% from the first quarter of 2025.
For the first quarter of 2026, CrossAmerica's merchandise gross profit increased 8% when compared to the first quarter of 2025. The first quarter increase was primarily driven by an increase in sales in the base business as well as an increase in the merchandise gross profit percentage. Same store merchandise sales excluding cigarettes increased 2% for the first quarter of 2026 when compared to the first quarter of 2025. Merchandise gross profit percentage increased from 27.9% for the first quarter of 2025 to 29.7% for the first quarter of 2026.
Operating expenses for the retail segment declined $1.7 million dollars or 3% with same store operating expenses also declining for the first quarter of 2026 when compared to the same period in 2025. In addition, the average retail segment site count decreased 4% relative to the prior year due to CrossAmerica's ongoing portfolio optimization efforts.
Wholesale Segment
Key Operating Metrics
Q1 2026
Q1 2025
Wholesale segment gross profit
$23.3M
$26.7M
Wholesale motor fuel gallons distributed
153.6M
162.9M
Average wholesale gross profit per gallon
$
0.094
$
0.097
During the first quarter of 2026, CrossAmerica's wholesale segment gross profit decreased $3.3 million or 13% compared to the first quarter of 2025. The decline was primarily driven by a 20% or $1.9 million decrease in rent gross profit, primarily due to the sale of locations and conversions to retail operations as part of the Partnership's portfolio optimization efforts. Motor fuel gross profit decreased 8% for the first quarter of 2026 when compared to the first quarter of 2025. The decline was driven by a 3% decrease in fuel margin per gallon and a 6% decline in wholesale volume distributed, primarily due to the loss of independent dealer contracts as well as the conversion of locations to the retail segment. Operating expenses declined $0.7 million or 10% due to the factors noted above.
Real Estate Activity
During the three months ended March 31, 2026, CrossAmerica sold 16 sites for $12.7 million in proceeds, resulting in a net gain of $6.3 million. CrossAmerica maintained a supply relationship post sale with substantially all of the locations divested during the quarter.
In May 2012, CrossAmerica's predecessor entered into a 15-year master lease agreement with Getty. On January 31, 2026, CrossAmerica entered into an amendment of this lease that reset the rents for all 106 sites covered by this lease to an aggregate $6.9 million in annual rent, subject to annual escalations of 1.5%. This amendment also triggered a reassessment of lease accounting. Effective January 31, 2026, CrossAmerica is accounting for the modified lease fully as a finance lease, and as such, the finance lease obligations increased $56 million during the first quarter of 2026. The prior lease accounting resulted in approximately $3 million of the rent payments being accounted for as rent expense that will now be accounted for as principal and interest.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of March 31, 2026, CrossAmerica had $682.0 million outstanding under its Credit Facility. As of May 1, 2026, after taking into consideration debt covenant restrictions, approximately $230 million was available for future borrowings under the Credit Facility. Leverage, as defined in the Credit Facility, was 3.35 times as of March 31, 2026, compared to 4.27 times as of March 31, 2025. As of March 31, 2026, CrossAmerica was in compliance with its financial covenants under the credit facility.
Distributions
On April 22, 2026, the Board of the Directors of CrossAmerica's General Partner ("Board") declared a quarterly distribution of $0.5250 per limited partner unit attributable to the first quarter of 2026. As previously announced, the distribution will be paid on May 14, 2026, to all unitholders of record as of May 4, 2026. The amount and timing of any future distributions is subject to the discretion of the Board as provided in CrossAmerica's Partnership Agreement.
Conference Call
The Partnership will host a conference call on May 7, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the first quarter of 2026 earnings results. The conference call numbers are 800-717-1738 or 646-307-1865 and the passcode for both is 292954. A live audio webcast of the conference call and the related earnings materials, including reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP financial measures and any other applicable disclosures, will be available on that same day on the investor section of the CrossAmerica website (www.crossamericapartners.com). After the live conference call, an archive of the webcast will be available on the investor section of the CrossAmerica site at https://caplp.gcs-web.com/webcasts-presentations within 24 hours after the call for a period of sixty days.
Non-GAAP Measures and Same Store Metrics
Non-GAAP measures used in this release include EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Distributable Cash Flow and Distribution Coverage Ratio. These Non-GAAP measures are further described and reconciled to their most directly comparable GAAP measures in the Supplemental Disclosure Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of this release.
Same store fuel volume and same store merchandise sales include aggregated individual store results for all stores that had fuel volume or merchandise sales in all months for both periods within the same segment. Same store merchandise sales excludes other revenues such as lottery commissions and car wash sales.
CROSSAMERICA PARTNERS LPCONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS(Thousands of Dollars, except unit data)(Unaudited)
March 31,
December 31,
2026
2025
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
7,349
$
3,137
Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $656 and $635, respectively
31,139
28,566
Accounts receivable from related parties
805
687
Inventory
65,063
59,610
Assets held for sale
7,732
9,690
Current portion of interest rate swap contracts
1,497
801
Other current assets
11,683
