Murphy USA Reports Strong Q4, 2023 Profit of $557 Million

Andrew Clyde, CEO of Murphy USA (Photo provided by Murphy USA)

Murphy USA, the El Dorado fuel and convenience store chain (NYSE: MUSA), reported fourth-quarter financial results Wednesday afternoon, including a profit of $150 million, or $7 per share, up 27.4% from $117.7 million, or $5.21 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2022.

For the full year of 2023, net income was $556.8 million, or $25.49 per diluted share, down 17.3% from 2022 net income of $672.9 million.

The results beat Wall Street forecasts. Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter expected a profit of $6.14 per share on revenues of $5.5 billion. 

The company said net income rose in the fourth quarter “due primarily to a higher total fuel contribution, higher overall merchandise contribution, and lower general and administrative expenses.” That trend was offset partially by increases in the cost of store operations.

Total fuel contribution in the fourth quarter was 32.5 cents per gallon, a metric followed closely by CEO Andrew Clyde. That beat a 30.6 cent per gallon figure from the fourth quarter of 2022. Total retail gallons sold were 1.2 billion in the fourth quarter and the fourth quarter of 2022.

“Merchandise contribution dollars for Q4 2023 increased 4.6% to $197.7 million on average unit margins of 19.4%, compared to Q4 2022 contribution dollars of $189.0 million on unit margins of 19.1%,” the company said in a news release.

For the full year 2023, merchandise contribution dollars increased 4.7% to $803.4 million and average unit margins were 19.7% in both 2023 and 2022.

Clyde said the results were a testament to strong foundations the company has built since being spun off from Murphy Oil Corp. 10 years ago. 

“Structural resilience in fuel margins coupled with high volumes generated over $1.5B in fuel contribution in 2023,” Clyde said. “This performance in a less volatile environment increases our confidence in the longevity of elevated fuel margins that complements and helps strengthen our everyday low-price model, helping us  to deliver more value to our customers.”

He said the strategy going forward will be rooted in new store growth and “continuous improvement efforts to generate higher returns.”

The company will host a conference call at 10 a.m. CST Thursday to discuss its financial results. The conference call number is 1-888-330-2384, and the conference number is 6680883.

About an hour after the conclusion of the conference call, a webcast of the call will be available for replay at murphyusa.com.

Shares of the company rose slightly more than 2% Wednesday to $367.63. Year to date, shares were up about 2.4%.