Casey’s General Stores Inc. on Monday reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $158.8 million, or $4.24 per share, up from $137.6 million, or $3.67 per share, in last year’s second quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations, after the average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.74 per share. The company’s reported revenue for the quarter rose 2% to $4.06 billion from $3.98 billion last year but fell short of Wall Street forecasts, with five analysts surveyed by Zacks having expected $4.15 billion. Inside same-store sales increased 2.9% compared to last year, and same-store fuel gallons were flat at 0.0% compared to a year ago, with a fuel margin of 42.3 cents per gallon. “Due to the hard work of our team, Casey’s delivered an outstanding second quarter highlighted by strong inside and fuel gross profit growth,” Darren Rebelez, Casey’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “Inside same-store sales were driven by prepared food and dispensed beverages, with whole pies and bakery performing exceptionally well. Our fuel team continues to do an excellent job finding the right balance between gallon growth and gross profit margin, as evidenced by another strong fuel margin quarter, while same-store gallons were flat. The team continued to effectively manage the stores by reducing same-store labor hours while growing the business at the same time.”