Starbucks climbs on strong earnings, raised full-year outlook (SBUX)

Mark Makela/Reuters

Starbucks released third-quarter 2019 earnings Thursday that beat analyst expectations. The performance prompted the company to raise its full-year outlook again after raising it in the second-quarter.
Shares of the coffee giant rose roughly 6% in after-market trading on the earnings beat.
Starbucks has been on an upward tear this year with strong performance and high-profile partnerships with Uber and Brightloom.
Watch Starbucks trade live on Markets Insider.

Shares of the coffee chain gained more than 5% when it released third quarter 2019 earnings that beat analyst expectations Thursday.

The company also raised its full-year financial outlook to expecting adjusted earnings-per-share in the range of $2.80 to $2.82, up from $2.75 to $2.79. This is the second time the company has raised its 2019 outlook this year, the first was in the second quarter.

Here’s what the company reported versus what analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected:

Adjusted earnings-per-share: $0.78 per share, versus $0.72 (expected)

Revenue: $6.82 billion, versus $6.7 billion (expected)

Comparable store sales: +6% versus +4% (expected)

Comparable store sales in the Americas:+7% versus +4.375% expected

The company said that strong performances in the US and China drove the results, which posted gains in nearly every measurable category from sales to revenue.

"Our two targeted long-term growth markets, the U.S. and China, performed extremely well across a number of measures as a result of our focus on enhancing the customer experience, driving new beverage innovation and accelerating the expansion of our digital customer relationships," said CEO Kevin Johnson in a statement.

Global comparable store sales increased 6%, driven by an uptick in average ticket size and transactions across the board. Global comparable sales growth of 6% was driven by a 3% increase in the average ticket and a 3% increase in comparable transactions.

The company also opened 442 new stores in the third quarter, a 7% increase on the year and bringing its store total to 30,626. Roughly one-third of the new stores opened in China, the company said in a press release, and half are in other international markets.

Usership of the Starbucks rewards app also grew in the third-quarter, increasing 14% on the year to 17.2 million users. Total revenue for the quarter was up 8% from the prior year. Starbucks also returned $581 million to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividend yields in the third quarter.

The earnings beat comes after analyst expectations of strong performance from the coffee chain, following a solid first half of 2019 and a slew of partnership announcements. Monday, Starbucks announced a deal with Brightloom, a new tech startup.

Brightloom, formerly called Easta, is a restaurant tech company that previously operated restaurants through kiosks – with no human interaction. As a part of the deal, Starbucks granted Brightloom a license for elements of its software in exchange for an equity stake and a seat on the startup’s board.

Starbucks also announced Tuesday that it was teaming up with Uber to launch delivery through the Uber eats app in the US. The company said it will continue to roll out delivery in new markets and would achieve national coverage by 2020.

Starbucks is one of many fast-food and casual dining companies that have outperformed the S&P 500 this year — it’s risen more than 40% while the S&P is up roughly 20%.

Starbucks has gained 41% year-to-date through Thursday.

Markets Insider

NOW WATCH: Animated map shows where American accents came from