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Starbucks Corp. stock fell more than 1% in the extended session Thursday after the specialty retailer’s sales growth slowed in the fiscal fourth quarter and came in below the company’s and Wall Street expectations.
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said it earned $1.76 billion, or $1.49 a share, in the quarter, compared with $393 million, or 33 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $1 a share.
Sales rose 31% to a record $8.1 billion, from $6.2 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected Starbucks to report adjusted earnings of 99 cents a share on sales of $8.2 billion.
“We anticipate that our strong business momentum, increased operating efficiency and continued global store expansion will fund these unprecedented investments while delivering yet another year of significant growth,” Chief Executive Kevin Johnson said in a statement.
Comparable-store sales globally rose 17%, which the company pinned on a 15% rise in comparable transactions and a 2% rise in average tickets. Same-store sales increases by 22% for North America.
That increase in global same-store sales, however, was below growth between 18% and 22% that the company guided in July, when it reported fiscal third-quarter earnings. FactSet consensus called for a rise of 18%.
For the full fiscal 2021, Starbucks said its global comparable-store sales increased 20%, mostly thanks to a 10% increase in average ticket and a 9% increase in comparable transactions. In July, the company said full fiscal 2021’s same-store sales would grow between 20% and 21%.
Starbucks said Wednesday it was raising U.S. employees’ wages to at least $15 and up to $23 per hour and making other changes to improve working conditions in its stores.
Shares of Starbucks have gained 6% so far this year, compared with an advance of around 22% for the S&P 500 index
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