ARKO has revealed its third quarter financial results, which ended Sept. 30.
Notably, the company notched a net income of $14.3 million, compared to $13.5 million for the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $75.7 million, compared to last year’s total of $75.2 million.
On the merchandise side, margin increased 110 basis points to 34.8% from 33.7% at this time last year, marking the 12th consecutive quarter of year-over-year merchandise margin improvement.
Merchandise contribution, however, decreased by $9.5 million, or 7.2%, compared to the third quarter of 2025. ARKO attributes this dip to to a $10.3 million decrease related to retail stores closed or converted to dealer locations.
In the forecourt, same store retail fuel margin for the quarter increased 4.6 cents per gallon to 48.8 cents per gallon — a 2.7% uptick. Total fuel contribution decreased by $3.9 million, or 3.8%, compared to the third quarter of 2025, also due to sites being converted to dealer locations.
Additionally, on Aug. 4, the company’s subsidiary ARKO Petroleum Corp. entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire U.S. Petroleum Partners, a strategic transaction that is expected to expand the company’s scale and infrastructure.
“We delivered solid third quarter results and continued to make meaningful progress transforming ARKO into a more focused, resilient and cash generative business,” said Arie Kotler, chairman, president and CEO of ARKO. “Through the first nine months of 2026, Adjusted EBITDA increased 8.5% to $199 million. Importantly, our retained-store portfolio generated positive merchandise sales, excluding cigarettes, for each quarter this year, while merchandise margins continued to expand year-over-year for the 12th consecutive quarter. These results reinforce our confidence in our retail transformation and the investments we are making in our core company-operated portfolio.
Our diversified platform also continues to perform well,” he continued. “Wholesale and fleet fueling delivered solid results, and the expected acquisition of USPP’s business would meaningfully expand APC’s scale and its capabilities across the fuel value chain. We believe the combination of continued progress in our retail transformation, disciplined capital allocation and APC’s continued growth positions ARKO to generate stronger and more durable cash flow over time. Based on our year-to-date performance, current business trends and the expected closing of the USPP acquisition, we are raising the low end of our full year adjusted EBITDA guidance and now expect full year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $250 million to $265 million.”
ARKO plans to continue investing in its retail stores, including remodels, fas craves food and beverage offerings, new-to-industry stores, technology and automated ordering. Since the launch of its new format fas craves flagship location in June 2025, the company has been rolling out the new format across its retail store base.
In 2026, the company expects to complete more than 25 store remodels, of which 11 have been completed to date, all which feature the fas craves food and beverage elements. During the first nine months of 2026, the company opened three NTI retail stores, and plans to open four NTI Dunkin’ stores between now and early 2027.
