Starbucks shares slid late Thursday after its outlook
overshadowed an estimate-beating quarter of profits. The coffee chain empire
said revenue rose nearly 12% to $5.37 billion in its fiscal first
quarter, generating a profit of $687 million, down 30% from a year ago,
the company announced after markets closed Thursday. Starbucks earnings per
share of 46 cents per share topped brokerage estimates 44 to 45 cents a
share as compiled by S&P Capital IQ Consensus Estimates. Sales were
largely in line with forecasts of $5.39 billion.
For its current quarter, Starbucks told investors it expects
to make 38-39 cents a share in adjusted earnings. That's a little short of what
Wall Street expected. The results, announced after markets closed, sent
Starbucks shares down 3.5% in after-hours trading. The Seattle-based
company’s growth was driven in part by a 4% increase in global customer
traffic. Same-store sales in the Americas increased 9%,. Meanwhile, sales
in the China and Asia Pacific segment increased 5%.
The company reported that 1 in 6 American adults received a Starbucks
Card for the holidays, up from 1 in 7 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015.
A record $1.9 billion was loaded onto Starbucks cards in the United States and
Canada over the holiday season, Starbucks reported.
Starbucks has continued to build out its mobile order and
payment app in the United States, where it was launched in 2014 and went
nationwide in 2015. The app allows customers to order and pay for drinks ahead
of time without having to wait in line. Starbucks continues to be bullish on
Asia and especially China, said Starbucks President and COO Kevin Johnson.
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