Starbucks Tumbles After Q3 Results

Shares of Starbucks Corporation SBUX traded down about 5 percent after the bell on Thursday, following the announcement of the company’s Q3 results.

Earnings of $0.49 per share were in line with the Street’s consensus, while revenue of $5.2 billion came in below estimates of $5.35 billion. Still, sales hit a Q3 record.

In the same quarter last year, the company posted earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $4.881 billion.

Related Link: Investors Should Be Watching Starbucks' U.S. Comps

On Tuesday, analysts at Goldman Sachs said investors should be watching the U.S. comps in Thursday’s report. Citing a moderately slower industry outlook, Goldman estimated a 5 percent comp – down 1 percent on a two-year stack. However, global comparable store sales rose only 4 percent, driven by a 4 surge in the Americas segment, a 3 percent increase in the China/Asia Pacific segment, and a 1 percent decline in the EMEA segment.

For the ongoing quarter, management expects EPS of $0.54-$0.55, compared to the Street’s consensus of $0.55.

"Starbucks record Q3 performance, highlighted by strong 7% comp growth and record revenues and profits in China and 18% year-over-year growth in our Starbucks Rewards loyalty program, demonstrates the strength and resilience of the Starbucks brand and business around the world," Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz stated. "As we enter Q4 and approach fiscal 2017, we have clear line of sight to returning our U.S. business to historic levels of comp sales growth which had been at or above 5% for the 25 consecutive quarters prior to Q3."