It was a happy holiday at Starbucks, but the company's sales momentum could start to slow due to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
New drinks like the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew were a hit with customers, helping the Seattle-based coffee giant beat Wall Street's forecasts in the October-December period. Starbucks reaffirmed its 2020 profit guidance for now, but said it has already closed more than half of its stores in China.
Starbucks reported Tuesday that its earnings rose 16% to $886 million in its fiscal first quarter. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring items like restructuring charges, were 79 cents per share. That beat Wall Street's forecast of 76 cents.
Starbucks said same-store sales — or sales at stores open at least 13 months — jumped 5% worldwide in the October-December period, ahead of analysts' forecast of 4.4%. Revenue was up 7% to $7.1 billion, in line with analysts' forecasts.
Starbucks said 1.4 million U.S. customers joined its Starbucks Rewards loyalty program during the quarter. The company said demand for mobile ordering and payment is growing in the U.S.
Billionaire Stephen Deckoff's SD Investments has purchased two islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands that were previously owned by the late sex criminal and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Two 10-year-olds are among 300 children who worked at McDonald's restaurants illegally, a Labor Department investigation of franchisees in Kentucky found.
U.S. regulators say Facebook misled parents and failed to protect the privacy of children using its Messenger Kids app, including misrepresenting the access it provided to app developers to private user data.
Tom McNeela, chief RIA solutions officer with RetireOne, joined Cheddar News to explain how people can use their life insurance policies for an emergency loan. "There's a lot of advantages and opportunities with permanent life insurance policy," he said, "if you have one, and there's cash value in there, you can take a loan out, and most of the time, it's a better rate than what you can get at your bank."
Cheddar News checks in on The Day Ahead as more earnings are on tap from companies Thursday including Apple, Lyft, Kellogg and Expedia while Vice President is expected to meet with some top tech CEOs to discuss the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
