Alimentation Couche-Tard (B)ATD.B.TOPAST TOP PICKSep 12, 2016Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Dec 07, 2021. Market Open.
EPS of 68c matched estimates; sales of $20.90B missed estimates of $21.21B. EBITDA of $1.64B beat estimates by 3%. Supply-chain optimization could let Couche-Tard maintain fuel profitability across its key markets for the rest of the fiscal year. US fuel margins declined sequentially (down 3.9%), but increased 2.5% compared with last year, an inflection point for the metric. If the company can keep this cadence of growth for 4Q, it's likely that US fuel margins may remain around mid-40 cents per gallon for the year. Canada might remain in the low-teen cents and high-single digits in Europe. Better control management allowed US inside-the-store margins to expand. As for M&A, recent acquisitions seem to remain on track, with the company reiterating its ambition for a friendly merger with Seven Eleven now that the possibility of a management buyout is gone. The stock is up, but this is likely more due to ongoing discussions with Seven Eleven rather than the quarter. But we are comfortable with the results.
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Very strong business - founder led & owned. Exception creator of wealth the past ~20 years. Has owned shares since 2014. Very good consolidator of convenience stores. High quality capital allocation skills. Recent 7-Eleven M&A is interesting, but depends on the final price that is settled on. Would recommend holding and/or buying.
(A Top Pick Sept 10/15. Up 7.86%.) This was trading sideways for a while, but recently was showing a negative return. Now everything has just turned around fantastically. Continues to execute well on the acquisitions. The big challenge is that more and more of their business is “away” from Central North America Canada. Will they continue to be able to navigate through in an environment where e-tailing and e-commerce is important? Feels convenience stores and gasoline are areas that are not going to be attacked.