The analysts were right about one thing: Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) recorded revenues of $2.6 billion in the third fiscal quarter of 2008, ending June 29, 2008. They were not so right, however, about the earnings per share, which they called at 18.3 cents. The coffee giant recorded a loss of $6.7 million, or about a penny a share, due to charges related to store closings. According to financial reports, the comparable figure is 16 cents a share. And Robert W. Baird analyst David Tarantino could have written the report on same-store sales (eerily, it was in his exact words): Starbucks' press release stated that the company suffered "a mid-single-digit decline in U.S. comparable store sales, and was a slight deterioration from the second quarter."U.S. revenue growth was due to store growth, an odd circumstance in an environment where 600 stores will be closing this month and next. A bright spot is the Global Products Group, which attained a 4% increase in revenues, generated mostly from ready-to-drink products like iced coffee beverages.
Excluding the 19 cents of year-to-date restructuring charges, Starbucks now expects annual earnings per share to be "in the mid-seventy-cent range" with fiscal 2009 results between $0.90 and $1.00 per share. Investors were initially thrilled at the results (maybe they feared worse?), driving Starbucks shares up 63 cents, or 4.29%, to $15.30. I'll be listening to the investor call over the next hour and will update the post with any particularly interesting bits.
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