Starbucks Slips Despite Solid Q1 Results

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) released fiscal first-quarter financial results after markets closed Thursday. The company said that it had $0.65 in earnings per share (EPS) and $6.1 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters that called for $0.57 in EPS and $6.18 billion in revenue. The same period from last year had $0.52 in EPS and $5.73 billion in revenue.

During the quarter, global comparable store sales increased 2%, driven by a 2% increase in average ticket. This consisted of comparable sales in Americas and U.S. comp store sales increasing 2% and China-Asia/Pacific comparable store sales up 1%.

Another highlight from the quarter was that active membership in Starbucks Rewards in the U.S. grew 11% year-over-year to 14.2 million, with member spend representing 37% of U.S. company-operated sales, and Mobile Order and Pay representing 11% of U.S. company-operated transactions.

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Looking ahead for all of fiscal 2018, the company expects to see comparable sales growing in the range of 3% to 5% and EPS to be in the range of $2.48 to $2.53. There are consensus estimates calling for $2.39 in EPS and $24.57 billion in revenue for fiscal 2018.

Kevin Johnson, President and CEO, commented:

Starbucks reported another quarter of record financial results in Q1 of fiscal 2018, with consolidated revenues up 6% over last year – up 7% excluding 1% for the impact of streamlining activities in the quarter. China grew revenues 30% in Q1, with the strategic acquisition of East China positioning us to accelerate our growth in the key China market. Today, Starbucks has two powerful, independent but complementary engines driving our global growth, the U.S. and China. Our work to streamline the company is sharpening our focus on our core operating priorities.

Shares of Starbucks closed Thursday at $60.55, with a consensus analyst price target of $64.29 and a 52-week range of $52.58 to $64.87. Following the announcement the stock was initially down about 3% at $58.55 in the after-hours trading session.

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