Casey's General Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:CASY) shares closed more than 3% lower on Tuesday despite the company’s reported strong Q3 results, with EPS of $1.71 coming in better than the consensus estimate of $1.44. Revenue was $3.05 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Gross margin came in at 21.8%, slightly ahead of the consensus estimate of 21.7%, primarily due to mix as better fuel margins offset slight misses in Grocery and Prepared Food & Fountain (PF&F).

During Q2, the company had a successful launch of its new breakfast lineup, highlighted by Casey's signature handheld and the rollout of its fresh-brewed bean-to-cup coffee program, and traffic had started to improve in the morning daypart. A quarter later this appears to have paid off, with Q3 breakfast daypart same-store sales up 17% compared to the prior year.

The company continues to expect same-store fuel and inside sales to increase by mid-single-digit percentages for the fiscal year, while total operating expenses are expected to increase at a high-teens percentage rate.