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    in Business

    Walker & Dunlop CEO says investors need clarity on who decides the fate of Fannie and Freddie

    CNBC sat down for a podcast conversation with Willy Walker, chairman and CEO of Walker & Dunlop.
    He touched on interest rates, land, labor, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
    “There’s nothing independent about the way that Fannie and Freddie are being managed from a board standpoint today,” Walker said.

    A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
    The annual Zelman Housing Summit is a small but elite conference of public and private homebuilders, mortgage lenders, investors and financial analysts, run by one of the most well-known builder analysts, Ivy Zelman. When the conference started 18 years ago, it was focused primarily on residential housing. But by now the conversations have broadened – and this year’s conference focused particularly on multifamily, GSEs, labor and land. 

    Four years ago, Zelman’s firm was acquired by Walker & Dunlop, a commercial real estate finance and advisory company. It’s a top GSE (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) multifamily lender. CNBC sat down for a podcast with Willy Walker, its CEO.
    Below are some highlights from our discussion and from the broader conference:

    Interest rates

    Much of the conversation at Zelman surrounded interest rates, as the 10-year yield dropped again Thursday when the conference began. Walker said he was surprised at where interest rates are now and doesn’t expect them to stay there. 
    “If you’d said to me three weeks ago that we’d have a 4.01% on the 10-year today, I would not have taken that bet,” he told CNBC. “Rates are much lower today than I thought they would be.” 
    But then he noted that if you go back to 1980 and look at the nine Fed rate-cut periods over that 45-year period, cuts made in a recessionary environment brought longer-term bold yields down. Outside a recession, there was really no impact on long-term interest rates. 

    “So as much as I’m expecting us to see at least a 25 basis point cut, and then probably another 25 basis point cut, even if you take 50 basis points out of the short end of the curve, I don’t expect it’s going to impact the long end of the curve very much,” Walker said.  

    Fannie and Freddie

    For builders as well as multifamily developers, the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are critical, and the uncertainty around what the Trump administration will do with them was a hot topic at Zelman.  
    Walker noted that while commercial real estate suffered broadly in the past three years due to higher interest rates, multifamily had an advantage. When banks or CMBS issuers might not have been lending, Fannie and Freddie were always in the market to provide liquidity.
    Now the conservator of the GSEs, FHFA Director Bill Pulte, as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have said there will be action to take the companies private and then ultimately to the public markets. Pulte told CNBC recently that the two would stay in government conservatorship and he expects to sell about 5% of them into the public markets. 

    Walker & Dunlop chairman and CEO Willy Walker

    Walker said he has a lot of concerns about the state of affairs for Fannie and Freddie, especially given recent reports of an argument between Pulte and Bessent that nearly turned physical. He likened the situation to that of flexible coworking company WeWork several years ago, which he said didn’t have a strong board to guide it. 
    “I’m a publicly traded company. I have a very rigorous board that has independent directors,” Walker said. “There’s nothing independent about the way that Fannie and Freddie are being managed from a board standpoint today.”
    And as for the dustup between Pulte and Bessent, Walker said, “The question there would be, who takes the lead? Who’s got the pen that says this is the plan of action for Fannie and Freddie?” 

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    Land

    Also among the concerns raised around the Zelman conference halls: land. 
    “We don’t have a housing crisis, we have a land crisis,” said Adrian Foley, CEO of Brookfield Residential, a land developer and homebuilder on one of the conference panels. 
    Builders for both single- and multifamily housing say they need more land entitlements and are hoping the Trump administration will facilitate that by opening up more federal land and helping ease zoning restrictions. 
    “I love the equivalent of basically a CHIPS Act for housing,” Foley said in a CNBC interview. 

    Labor

    Doug Yearley, CEO of Toll Brothers, however, said even if there were enough land to build on, there aren’t enough workers to build on it.
    Smaller builders have said they’ve lost labor due to the fear of ICE raids on job sites. There was a lot of talk at the Zelman conference about training more people to get into the business, given the number of immigrant workers who fuel the industry and are being increasingly threatened with deportation. 
    The big public builders consistently say they’re not having major issues with ICE raids on their job sites, but they do bemoan the lack of labor overall.
    “We need a healthy immigration policy,” Yearley said on a panel. “You go to any of our home sites, and it’s [like] the United Nations.” More

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    Workers are ‘hugging’ their jobs. There’s a right and wrong way to do it

    “Job hugging” is the dynamic whereby workers are clinging to their current roles.
    Hiring and job creation have slowed, meaning job seekers aren’t finding many new opportunities. Some are fearful for a change given labor market and economic uncertainty.
    Workers who “hug” their jobs should find ways to stand out, and should prepare for the future by expanding their career networks, experts said.

    Tom Werner | Digitalvision | Getty Images

    Workers are “hugging” — or, clinging to — their jobs right now.
    But there’s a right and wrong way to “hug” your work — and doing it poorly could be costly, according to career experts and labor economists.

    “I don’t think job hugging is the move,” said Mandi Woodruff-Santos, a career coach.

    Why people are job hugging

    The “quits” rate — which measures the pace of voluntary separations from employment — has sat at 2% in recent months, its lowest sustained level since 2016.
    About 52% of new hires had changed jobs just once in the past two years, according to a ZipRecruiter’s most recent quarterly survey of new hires. That share is up from 43% in Q2. The site surveys workers during the second month of each quarter.
    Some of that “hugging” behavior is likely out of necessity, since it’s gotten harder to find a job, experts said.
    Job growth has weakened considerably and the pace of hiring has slowed to its lowest level since 2013, excluding the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    “I think a lot of workers are cognizant of the uncertainty in the market right now,” said Nicole Bachaud, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter.

    But it’s not one-sided: Employers are also clinging to their workers.
    Workers were hard to find during the so-called great resignation in 2021 and 2022, a period with a historically high rate of job hopping.
    “As a result, many companies do not want to get caught short workers and have held on to staff,” Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, wrote in a Sept. 10 market commentary. “And of course, uncertainty over tariff effects and economic growth has made many companies hesitant to expand their current workforce.”
    Workers may fear more cuts are on the horizon in a cooling job market — and may feel safer in a familiar role rather than as a new hire at an outside organization, Bachaud said.
    The job market could become more hospitable to job seekers if the Federal Reserve starts to cut interest rates this week, which could prompt many employers to expand their hiring activity, Bachaud said.

    The right and wrong way to ‘job hug’

    But choosing to stay at a job comes with risks, too, especially for sedentary workers who don’t seek out growth opportunities, Bachaud said.
    “Complacency can put your job at risk,” she said.
    Managers generally lay off workers for objective and subjective reasons, said Alan Guarino, vice chairman of CEO and board services at Korn Ferry.
    More from Personal Finance:More consumers are using rent payments to boost their credit scoreFederal Reserve may cut rates for the first time since 2024Teacher’s union sues Trump administration over student loan forgiveness delays
    Objective analysis is based on measurable details: absenteeism, failure to turn in assignments or having a bad attitude, for example, Guarino said.
    Combatting the subjective part of the formula means finding ways to stand out and “be impressive,” Guarino said.
    That may be relatively more challenging to accomplish as workers have lost bargaining power, he said.
    “In a job-hugging market, you might actually have to work harder to be impressive because if there’s not as much hiring activity out there, your employer may feel like they’re in a position to ask more from you,” Guarino said. “They may have a high level of confidence that you can’t go anywhere anyway.”

    This might mean taking on more responsibility, or signaling you’re willing to take on new opportunities and challenges, experts said.
    For example, workers who stay connected to customers and give them attention even when that customer isn’t spending money end up in a really strong position when the economy turns, Guarino said.
    To that end, Woodruff-Santos, the career coach, advocates for “pivoting in place.”
    This entails seeking ways to advance internally in your current company, perhaps by asking for a promotion or shadowing a colleague to pick up new skill sets, she said.
    Relationship-building is also key during tough job markets, experts said.

    Expand your social capital — your network of mentors, colleagues, those in other organizations — to set yourself up for success when the job market eventually thaws, Guarino said.
    “During this ‘great hug,’ the time [workers] might have been spending looking for new jobs, they should invest in adding people to their network,” Guarino said.
    “There will be another ‘great resignation’ on the horizon,” he said. “The ones building their social-capital network will be the ones getting the phone calls” when opportunities emerge. More

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    Trump administration orders Delta, Aeromexico to unwind joint venture by Jan. 1

    The Trump administration ordered Delta and Aeromexico to unwind their joint venture that let’s them coordinate schedules, pricing and capacity for flights between the U.S. and Mexico.
    Both the Trump and Biden administrations had considered ending the joint venture amid a series of disputes about competition for flights between the two countries.
    The order doesn’t undo Delta’s minority equity stake in Aeromexico.

    An Aeromexico Boeing 737 MAX 8 taxis at Los Angeles International Airport on September 19, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. 
    Kevin Carter | Getty Images

    The Trump administration ordered Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico to end by Jan. 1 their nearly decade-old joint venture that allows them to coordinate schedules and prices for flights between the U.S. and Mexico.
    “This action is necessary because of ongoing anticompetitive effects in U.S.-Mexico City markets that provide an unfair advantage to Delta and Aeromexico as two predominant competitors and create unacceptable actual and potential harm for stakeholders, including consumers,” the Transportation Department said in a filing late Monday.

    Both Delta and Aeromexico said in separate statements that the carriers were disappointed by the department’s decision and were reviewing the order before considering next steps. Delta said it will “cause significant harm to U.S. jobs, communities and consumers traveling between the U.S. and Mexico.”
    Aeromexico said that the carriers will continue to offer flights on each other’s airline as well as frequent flyer program reciprocity, in which customers can earn and burn miles.
    The Biden administration had weighed withdrawing antitrust immunity for the joint venture, which began in 2016. The dispute with Mexico is part of a series of long-running complaints from the U.S. about competition between the two countries.
    The Transportation Department proposed to unwind the venture in July, leading the airlines to object. Both airlines responded in a filing, saying that the partnership generated $310 million for the U.S. economy and, if unwound, would lead to a loss in economic benefits for the U.S., while the market will be captured by their competitors.
    Monday’s order doesn’t change Delta’s 20% equity stake in Aeromexico.

    Read more CNBC airline news More

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    Here are five fintechs that could be next to IPO after Klarna

    Klarna’s bumper IPO demonstrated how Wall Street is becoming more welcoming of sizable fintech listings.
    That has got market participants wondering which fintech names could be next to go public.
    “I think the Klarna IPO would be viewed positively by some of the other scaled-up vendors,” said Gautam Pillai, head of fintech research at Peel Hunt.

    Specialist traders work at the post for Swedish fintech Klarna, during the company’s IPO at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., Sept. 10, 2025.
    Brendan McDermid | Reuters

    After Swedish payments group Klarna’s $17 billion initial public offering, investors are pondering which big fintech name will be the next to go public.
    Klarna popped as much as 30% on the day of its New York IPO, before settling to close around 15% higher. The stock declined further to $42.92 by Friday but is still up about 7% from its IPO price of $40.

    The debut demonstrated how Wall Street is becoming more welcoming of bumper fintech listings. Prior to Klarna, online trading platform eToro, stablecoin issuer Circle and crypto exchange Bullish all went public to a positive first-day reception.
    Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, surged 14% in its IPO Friday.
    “I think the Klarna IPO would be viewed positively by some of the other scaled-up vendors,” Gautam Pillai, head of fintech research at British investment bank Peel Hunt, told CNBC.
    There’s a crowded pipeline of fintech names that could be next to IPO after Klarna. CNBC looks at which companies look the most promising.

    Stripe

    Patrick Collison, chief executive officer and co-founder of Stripe Inc., left, smiles as John Collison, president and co-founder of Stripe Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg Studio 1.0 television interview in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Friday, March 23, 2018. 
    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Digital payments firm Stripe has for years been viewed as an IPO contender. Stripe has remained a private company in the 15 years since it was founded, and founders and brothers John and Patrick Collison have long resisted pressure to take the business public.

    However, that doesn’t mean a stock market listing hasn’t been on Stripe’s mind. The Collisons told employees in 2023 that Stripe would decide to either go public or allow employees to sell shares via a secondary offering within the next year.
    Ultimately, Stripe in January opted for a secondary share sale valuing the company at $91.5 billion — close to its peak valuation of $95 billion, which it achieved in 2021.
    That doesn’t mean Stripe couldn’t still pursue a stock market debut further down the line. Many fintech unicorn CEOs have been keeping a close eye on Klarna’s IPO performance for signs of when will be the right moment to list.

    Revolut

    Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Nov. 7, 2019.
    Pedro Nunes | Reuters

    Revolut is widely seen as a potential future fintech IPO candidate. The digital banking unicorn told CNBC last week that it recently gave employees the chance to sell shares on the secondary market at a whopping $75 billion valuation, placing it above some major U.K. banks by market value.
    “As part of our commitment to our employees, we regularly provide opportunities for them to gain liquidity,” a Revolut spokesperson told CNBC at the time. “An employee secondary share sale is currently in process, and we won’t be commenting further until it is complete.”
    The secondary round buys Revolut some time to remain private for longer while still offering staff the chance to exit some of their holdings. At the same time, though, it now makes Revolut one of the world’s most valuable private fintech firms.
    As to where Revolut lists, for now the U.S. appears the likeliest location.
    Co-founder and CEO Nikolay Storonsky has spoken candidly about his preference to list in the U.S. due to issues with London’s IPO market. Last year, he told the 20VC podcast that it was “just not rational” to go public in the U.K.

    Monzo

    Monzo CEO TS Anil.

    Having recently reached a $5.9 billion valuation in a secondary share sale, British digital bank Monzo is another contender for the public markets.
    A report surfaced earlier this year from Sky News that said Monzo had lined up bankers to work on an IPO that could take place as early as the first half of 2026.
    However, in a fireside discussion moderated by CNBC at SXSW London, Monzo CEO TS Anil said that an IPO is “not the thing we’re focused on right now” — it’s worth noting though that this was back in June.
    “The thing we’re focused on is scale the business, continue to grow it, double it again, reach more customers, build more products, continue to drive great economic outcomes on the back of that,” Anil said at the time.
    Anil wouldn’t comment on where Monzo would list if it were to IPO, but he stressed the firm was “deeply committed” to being globally headquartered in London. 

    Starling Bank

    Raman Bhatia, incoming chief executive officer of Starling. Bhatia moved over from OVO Energy Ltd., where he was CEO. 
    Zed Jameson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Monzo’s rival neobank Starling Bank has reportedly been considering an initial public offering in the U.S. as part of expansion plans there.
    On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Starling had hired Jody Bhagat, former president of global banking at software firm Personetics Technologies, to lead the growth of its Engine technology unit in the U.S.
    Starling declined to comment when asked by CNBC about its listing plans.
    Last year, Starling’s CEO Raman Bhatia talked up the bank’s plans to expand globally via Engine, a software platform that Starling sells to other companies so they can set up their own digital banks.
    “I am very bullish about this approach around internationalization of what is the best of Starling — the proprietary tech,” Bhatia said during a fireside chat at the Money 20/20 conference moderated by CNBC.
    Starling was last privately valued at £2.5 billion ($3.4 billion) in a 2022 funding round. However, reports indicate the firm is looking to fetch a valuation of £4 billion in an upcoming secondary share sale.

    Payhawk

    Saravutvanset | Room | Getty Images

    Though a lesser known name, Bulgaria-founded fintech firm Payhawk also has IPO ambitions.
    The spend management platform was valued at $1 billion in 2022 and saw revenue surge 85% year-over-year in 2024 to 23.4 million euros ($27.4 million).
    “We’re definitely seeing the IPO window open,” Payhawk CEO and co-founder Hristo Borisov told CNBC in an interview earlier this month. However, he stressed that “we are looking at more of a five-year horizon there.”
    “If you look at the majority of the IPOs, the majority of those IPOs are companies with $400 million to $500 million-plus ARR [annual recurring revenue],” Borisov said. “That’s our goal.”

    Some honorary mentions

    There are other fintechs that look like potential IPO contenders further down the line — but the trajectory looks less clear.
    Blockchain firm Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse told CNBC in January last year that the company explored markets outside the U.S. for its IPO due to an aggressive crypto enforcement regime under ex-Securities and Exchange Commission chief Gary Gensler.
    That could change now thanks to President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance. Garlinghouse said last year though that Ripple had put any plans for an IPO on hold. The startup was most recently valued at $15 billion.
    Germany’s N26 is another potential IPO contender. The digital bank was valued at $9 billion in a 2021 funding round.
    However, it has faced some setbacks. N26 co-founder Valentin Stalf recently stepped down as CEO after facing pressure from investors over regulatory failings. More

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    Consumers love buy now, pay later loans. Here’s why banks and credit card companies are wary of them

    Buy now, pay later plans offer an attractive alternative to credit cards for consumers: They allow purchases to be split into short-term, typically interest-free installments.
    “Credit isn’t new. Credit’s been around for thousands of years and credit cards aren’t new. But they’ve had a hard time adapting to consumer needs,” said Michael Linford, chief operating officer of Affirm. “I think the thing that we’re seeing in the industry right now is widespread adoption of alternatives to credit cards.”

    An estimated 86.5 million Americans used buy now, pay later loans in 2024, according to eMarketer, and that number could rise to 91.5 million in 2025. A recent LendingTree survey found that nearly half of Americans have used a buy now, pay later service such as Affirm or Klarna at least once, including 11% who have used the service at least six times.
    “I think it pushes out portions of the credit card industry,” said Moshe Orenbuch, senior analyst at TD Cowen. “Buy now, pay later was kind of created for people who either didn’t want to use credit cards or didn’t have a lot of open [credit] to buy on their credit cards.”
    “Every purchase that gets financed through buy now, pay later is a purchase that could have been financed through a credit card or a checking account that they offer that now will not be,” said Kevin King, vice president of credit risk and marketing strategy at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. “So it reduces card transaction activity, utilization — those are major revenue drivers.”
    Beyond the direct challenge that buy now, pay later loans pose to credit cards, big banks and financial institutions have other reasons to be cautious of consumers who use these plans, especially as the number of users continues to grow.  
    “Buy now, pay later to date represents a giant black hole in the credit profile and their understanding of consumer credit quality,” said King.
    Watch the video above to find out what’s behind the popularity of buy now, pay later loans, and why traditional lenders such as banks and credit card companies are wary of consumers who use these programs. More

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    America’s economy defies gloomy expectations

    Only America’s most confident economic bulls will have remained upbeat this far into 2025. Any flickerings of optimism that survived the tariff chaos of spring and this summer’s growth slowdown will have taken another hit in early September, when employment figures came in weak for the second time in a row. America added less than 30,000 jobs on average in June, July and August, the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) announced. More

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    Convenience stores are eating fast-food chains’ breakfast

    Food-forward convenience stores are stealing breakfast customers from fast-food chains.
    Morning meal traffic to fast-food chains rose 1% in the three months ended in July, while visits to food-forward convenience stores climbed 9% in the same period, according to Circana.
    Prepared foods have offered a lifeline for convenience stores as demand for gasoline, tobacco and lottery tickets has fallen over time.

    A Wawa store is seen on May 29, 2024 in Washington, DC.
    Kent Nishimura | Getty Images

    Fast-food restaurants are losing breakfast customers to convenience stores.
    Morning meal traffic to fast-food chains rose 1% in the three months ended in July, while visits to food-forward convenience stores climbed 9% in the same period, according to market research firm Circana.

    “Over the long run, convenience stores have taken share, really at foodservice overall, but the morning meal has been their strong suit,” David Portalatin, Circana senior vice president and foodservice industry advisor, told CNBC, noting the trend has largely been driven by what the group calls “food-forward convenience stores.”
    For decades, McDonald’s and its rivals have tried to lure consumers away from home to eat their early morning offerings, betting that convenience and unique items will win over diners. While fast-food chains have made some inroads, 87% of what consumers eat and drink in the morning comes from their own refrigerators or pantries, according to Portalatin. That leaves plenty of opportunity for fast-food chains — and anyone else who wants a slice of the breakfast pie.

    FILE PHOTO: A McDonald’s Corp. McGriddle breakfast sandwich is displayed for a photograph in New York, U.S.
    Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Before the pandemic, fast-food chains started seeing a new rival for their breakfast customers: convenience stores. Regional chains like Wawa in the Northeast and Casey’s General Store in the Midwest were expanding their reach and investing in their foodservice options, taking pages from the fast-food companies’ own playbooks.
    For a time, lockdowns and the shift to hybrid work reversed those market share gains. But in the three months ended in July, food-forward convenience stores once again gained the upper hand in the battle to serve consumers breakfast, according to Portalatin.
    Circana separates food-forward convenience stores like Buc-ee’s and Sheetz from the broader industry, although more chains may soon fit under that umbrella. 7-Eleven, the biggest convenience, or c-store, in the U.S., is planning to invest more in its prepared foods business, inspired by the success of its Japanese business. C-store chain RaceTrac on Wednesday announced that it’s buying Potbelly for about $566 million, although it’s unclear what its plans for the sandwich chain include beyond expanding its footprint.

    Fast-food’s breakfast breakdown

    In recent years, more diners have been watching their budgets, conscious of rising menu prices and a tight job market.
    Year-over-year morning traffic to fast-food chains has fallen every quarter for the last three years, according to data from Revenue Management Solutions, which advises restaurants on how to increase sales and profits. In the second quarter, fast-food breakfast visits fell 8.7%.
    To see the struggles, look no further than McDonald’s, which dominates the quick-service breakfast category.
    “… The breakfast daypart is the most economically sensitive daypart, because it’s the easiest daypart of a stressed consumer to either skip breakfast or choose to eat breakfast at home,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said on the company’s earnings call in late July. “And we, as well as the rest of the industry, are seeing that the breakfast daypart is absolutely the weakest daypart in the day.”
    McDonald’s morning visits accounted for 33.5% of its traffic in the first half of 2019 but fell to 29.9% in the first half of 2025, according to Placer.ai data. To try to drum up traffic, the chain has included breakfast items in its new Extra Value Meals, including a deal for a Sausage McMuffin with Egg with a hash brown and a small coffee for $5.
    To reverse breakfast’s slide, fast-food chains are taking hints from their competition. After years of convenience stores looking to fast-food chains for ideas on how to grow prepared food sales, from installing ordering kiosks to new menu items, the dynamic has flipped.
    “[Quick-service restaurants] are looking at late-night sales and early morning sales, and they are directly looking at convenience stores and saying, ‘What is working? How can we bring that to our stores?'” National Association of Convenience Stores spokesperson Jeff Lenard told CNBC.

    The rise of the c-store meal

    Prepared foods have offered a lifeline for convenience stores as demand for gasoline, tobacco and lottery tickets has fallen over time. The industry’s overall foodservice sales reached $121 billion in 2024, according to data from the NACS.
    Most customers visit the gas pump during the morning and evening rush hours, on their way to and from work, presenting the perfect opportunity for c-stores to sell them breakfast or dinner. This year, 72% of consumers surveyed by InTouch Insight said they saw c-stores as a real alternative to fast-food chains, up from 56% a year ago and 45% two years ago.
    Broadly, the c-stores that have focused on fresh food have been winning over more customers.
    For example, Wawa has seen its customer base grow by 11.5% since 2022, while fast-food chains McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s have seen their combined customer base shrink 3.5% in the same time, according to data from Indagari, a transaction data analytics firm.
    The majority of 1,170 respondents to an InTouch Insight survey for CNBC said that they have purchased made-to-order breakfast from a c-store in the morning in the past three months. Forty-eight percent of respondents said that when they choose breakfast from a convenience store, they are replacing a visit that they might otherwise make to a fast-food restaurant like McDonald’s or Dunkin’.
    Buying coffee and breakfast from a c-store likely won’t be cheaper than making it at home. But consumers perceive it as “good bang for their buck,” according to Sarah Beckett, vice president of sales and marketing for InTouch Insight.
    Plus, c-store customers get a wider breadth of options. In addition to coffee, gas stations sell energy drinks, protein shakes and yogurt smoothies. And customers can pick up a granola bar or banana to accompany their breakfast sandwich. Fast-food chains lack that kind of variety.
    But above all, what matters to consumers is the food itself.
    “While [a] convenience store broadly does have some tailwind from being a lower price point, the ultimate differentiator, and what’s really going to set apart the winners from losers, is that quality aspect of it,” Circana’s Portalatin said.

    Signage at a Casey’s General Store.
    Courtesy: Casey’s General Stores

    Brady Caviness, a 33-year-old account executive at Bailiwick who lives in Minneapolis, told CNBC that he indulges in a breakfast pizza from Casey’s General Store when he’s traveling. If he’s back home, where there isn’t a Casey’s nearby, he’ll stop by McDonald’s, Dunkin’ or Starbucks if he’s in the mood to buy his breakfast.
    The Iowa-based chain is the country’s third-largest c-store chain and claims to be the fifth-largest pizza concept based on its number of locations. Casey’s reported same-store sales growth of 5.6% for its prepared food and dispensed beverages for the three months ended July 31.
    Like Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza, Casey’s breakfast pizza, topped with cheese, scrambled eggs and a choice of bacon, sausage or vegetables, has grown a cult following since its launch in 2001.
    “I think Casey’s is kind of a unique thing,” Caviness said. “My whole life, I’ve had the Egg McMuffins.” More

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    This is Google Flights’ ‘No. 1 advice, always’ to score cheap airfare

    Google Flights has a top piece of advice for travelers looking to save money on flights: Be flexible.
    That may mean flying outside of weekends or peak seasons, experts said.
    Some people may not have that wiggle room. But there are other ways to save, too.

    Passengers walk through the entrance of a TSA PreCheck in Terminal One at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Feb. 1, 2017.
    Armando L. Sanchez | Chicago Tribune | Getty Images

    Finding a cheap flight can at times feel as tough as scoring a decent snack on an airplane.
    But travel experts generally agree on one piece of advice to getting a good deal on airfare: Be flexible.

    “It’s our No .1 advice, always, for travelers” looking for deals, said James Byers, head of the product team at Google Flights.
    Flexibility may mean flying midweek instead of during the weekend, or perhaps traveling outside of peak season for a particular destination, he and other experts said.
    “Try not to lock yourself into a really specific date,” Byers said.
    Even shifting travel by a day or two in either direction can make a “huge difference,” he said.

    The cheapest days to fly

    Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are generally the cheapest days to fly. Tickets are 13% less expensive than those for weekend flights, according to new Google Flights data.

    Google examined average round-trip airfares from Jan. 1, 2021, through Aug. 1, 2025. It analyzed four-day to 16-day trips departing from the top 4,000 markets in the U.S.
    Midweek departures are a “simple way” to save $42 a ticket, or about 14%, on average, for domestic airfare, according to a 2025 travel hacks report by Hopper.

    Sunday is often the most expensive day to fly, Hayley Berg, Hopper’s lead economist, wrote in the report. It’s typically a busy day in airports as people fly home from weekends away, she wrote.
    “Travelers thinking about a weekend getaway can save significantly by departing mid-week and returning on Saturday or Monday, instead of Sunday,” Berg wrote.
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    Of course, holidays can throw a wrench into these guidelines.
    For example, flying on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is likely the most expensive day to fly around that particular holiday, said Sally French, a travel analyst at NerdWallet.  
    As an added bonus, skipping weekend travel can also yield big hotel discounts. Checking in on Friday or Saturday and staying through Sunday generally means paying a premium exceeding 20%, or about $50 more per night, relative to the cheapest days of the week to check in, such as Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, according to Hopper data.

    Don’t fall for this travel ‘myth’

    Can’t afford the hotel? Travelers can pay staff to let them take photos in the pool.
    Daniloandjus | E+ | Getty Images

    Many travelers fall for the “myth” that the day of the week on which they purchase their flight has a big financial effect, French said.  
    “It’s not true,” she said. “It’s not the day that you book [that’s important], it’s the day that you fly.”
    Tuesday has historically been the cheapest day of the week to book, but it’s only 1.3% cheaper than Sunday, the most expensive day, according to the Google Flights analysis.
    “If I were giving my friends and family advice on what to look for, it’d be lower on the list as a factor,” Byers said. “I wouldn’t say, ‘Wait until Tuesday.'”

    Travel outside of peak season

    These alternative travel trends offer something different than the typical vacation.
    Alexandr Dubynin | Moment | Getty Images

    Flexibility on a more macro level can also help reduce your airfare, French said.
    “Just going in a less crowded month can be helpful,” she said.
    This might mean traveling during a destination’s shoulder season or offseason, experts said.
    Airfare generally peaks in mid-summer and drops as early fall approaches, Berg wrote. For example, domestic travelers in 2024 saved 40%, on average, or about $150, by shifting from peak summer months to September or October, she wrote, citing Hopper data.

    Of course, it may be difficult for certain travelers to be flexible.
    Parents may be tied to summer trips due to school vacation schedules, while workers in certain roles, say, teachers or tax preparers, may be limited in when they can take time off work.
    Additionally, tours or cruises generally come with rigid start and end dates, and it may not make financial sense to tack on additional days — and extra hotel and food costs — at the beginning or end of a trip, French said.

    Other airfare hacks

    D3sign | Moment | Getty Images

    There are other ways to save, though, experts said.
    Layovers, while potentially burdensome, are often a surefire way to save money. Booking an itinerary with a layover saves travelers about 22%, on average, versus flying nonstop, according to Google Flights.
    Just remember to pack all the essential items for your trip in your carry-on baggage in case your suitcase doesn’t make it onto the next airplane, French said.

    Booking ahead, or, not waiting until the last minute, often yields savings, too, experts said.
    The lowest prices have been 39 days before departure for a domestic flight and 49 days for international, according to Google Flights. The target may vary based on destination, experts said. More