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.
The top financial concern for Americans in 2023 is inflation. Sudha Chandrasekharan, SVP, of Global E-Commerce at Auctane, joins Cheddar News to discuss how this outlook will change consumer spending habits, and why e-commerce is playing a vital role in the economy.
Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, told the Financial Times that the U.S. commercial property market is in trouble. “It’s not nearly as bad as it was in 2008,” he said. “But trouble happens to banking just like trouble happens everywhere else.”
Labor strife is coming to a head in the entertainment industry, as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) said it's prepared to strike at midnight Tuesday if it doesn't come to terms with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday, making it the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, and promptly sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase.
