The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Couche-Tard tallied its best U.S. same-store sales growth of the last three years during its latest quarter, as the company surprised investors with major gains in U.S. gasoline profit margins. The Globe's Nicolas Van Praet writes its shares hit a new all-time high, closing the day at $91.87 in Toronto. The company now has a market value of $75.5-billion. Couche-Tard, which owns the Circle K chain, reported a 3.4-per-cent year-over-year increase in merchandise sales at comparable U.S. stores during its latest three-month period. Store traffic increased and customers snapped up more packaged beverages, nicotine products and food than in the previous quarter, and the company said it continued to take share from rivals. Meanwhile, Couche-Tard's profit margins on gasoline sold in the U.S. hit a five-year high, even as it sold 2 per cent less fuel at comparable stores. Stifel analyst Martin Landry said the company was able to use arbitrage strategies to take advantage of volatile crude oil prices as a result of the war in the Middle East, tallying a 52-U.S.-cent-per-gallon margin during the fourth quarter that outpaced the 35-U.S.-cent-per-gallon industry-wide average.