Starbucks slides as comp sales squeak past estimates
- Starbucks second-quarter earnings matched Wall Street estimates.
- US and global comp sales grew by 2% over the last quarter, barely beating the 1.9% estimate.
- Quarterly revenue reached a record $6 billion, up 18% year-over-year.
- Watch Starbucks trade in real-time here.
Starbucks released second-quarter earnings after Thursday's closing bell and shares decline more than 3% in post-market trading.
The global coffee giant reported earnings of $0.53 a share, matching the estimate analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting. Meanwhile, revenue reached a record $6 billion, up 18% year-over-year and surpassing the Wall Street estimate of $5.93 billion.
US and global comparable-store sales grew by 2%, barely beating the 1.9% gain expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
"Starbucks Q2 of fiscal 2018 represented another quarter of record financial results, highlighted by accelerating momentum across our Americas business - particularly in the U.S., continued strong performance in China and our strongest comp growth in Japan in five quarters," said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO, in a press release.
Over the last quarter, a net 468 stores opened, bringing the total number of operating stores across all markets to 28,209. In the same time period, 298 Teavana stores closed.
The company's loyalty program that launched in 2016 continues to perform, adding 1.6 million active members in the US - a 12% increase from the previous year. Starbucks Rewards members also spent more this past quarter, increasing to represent 39% of US operated sales while Mobile Order and Pay represented 12% of all US operated transactions.
Starbucks management reiterated their fiscal year 2018 target of an estimated 2,300 new stores across the globe, 3%-5% comp sales growth and consolidated revenue growth in the high single digits (excluding East China acquisition and streamline-driven activities).
The board approved an additional buy back of 100 million shares.
Starbucks shares have gained more than 3% this year.
