Starbucks reports record sales but lower profits on weak China / Photo: SPENCER PLATT - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
-
ECB says has tools to calm markets as French debt worries rise
-
Does White House ask AI to shape policy? Democrats want the receipts
-
IMF says engaging with Iraq on preparing new bailout program
-
ECB holds rates steady after Lagarde says to quit early
-
US economy posts strong growth, inflation stubbornly high in challenge to Trump
-
ECB chief Lagarde to step down early, triggering succession race
-
French businessman takes over 2030 Winter Olympics amid leadership turmoil
-
VW says 'no time to lose' to slash costs after 5.8 billion euro loss
-
Stock markets diverge on corporate earnings, tech jitters
-
Oil majors reap bumper profits as Mideast war drives prices
-
TotalEnergies profit hits record on high oil prices
-
Taiwan says Pakistan briefly closed airspace to Taiwanese flights
-
Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation surges despite Taliban govt ban: UN
-
Samsung logs record quarterly profits despite investor AI jitters
-
Microsoft beats expectations fueled by Azure cloud business
-
Shares in Google owner Alphabet plummet on profit miss, ad slowdown
-
Shares in Google owner Alphabet sink on profit miss, ad slowdown
-
US Fed holds interest rates steady despite 'too high' inflation
-
Pioneering US labor leader Dolores Huerta dies at 96
-
Airbus aims for record deliveries despite disappointing quarter
-
US Fed holds interest rates steady despite surging inflation
-
Real Madrid, La Liga apology over Mbappe shows power of Chinese market
-
US labor leader Dolores Huerta dead: family
-
'Cruise for life' strands passengers in Cambodia as operator goes bust
Starbucks reports record sales but lower profits on weak China
Starbucks reported record quarterly revenues Thursday behind a strong US performance, but weak China results and increased expenses pinched profits.
Comparable sales surged at the coffee chain's North American shops, lifted by a 10 percent increase in average ticket size following price hikes and a slight uptick in comparable transactions.
The results are the latest from a big US consumer-oriented company to illustrate continued robust consumer demand despite inflation.
Howard Schultz, interim chief executive, attributed the strong US performance to "reinvention" investments that have included boosts to employee compensation and store revamps as the chain confronts a unionization drive in its home market.
But the added spending on these areas -- coupled with increased commodity and supply chain costs -- dragged down Starbucks' bottom line.
Profits for the quarter ending October 2 were $878.3 million, down 50 percent from the year-ago period, while revenues climbed 3.3 percent to $8.4 billion.
The company continued to see meager results in China amid waves of Covid-19 restrictions in the country. Comparable sales dropped 16 percent in the period in the market.
With the coronavirus again on the rise in China, "we anticipate the current Covid-related uncertainty to continue," Schultz told analysts on a conference call.
"While our long-term aspirations for China remain undiminished, we expect the recovery of our business in the country to be nonlinear," Schultz said.
Shares of Starbucks rose 2.0 percent to $86.35 in after-hours trading.
J.Bondarev--CPN
