I miss the days when a Starbucks
There's nothing wrong with last night's fiscal second-quarter financials at the java-brewing giant. Revenue climbed 20% higher to $2.3 billion, on the strength of a 3% boost in comps and 1,042 new company-owned locations opening over the past year.
Earnings kept pace, climbing 19% to hit $0.19 per share. Factors tugged slightly in different directions, with store operating expenses growing slower than the top line as the pesky cost of sales ate up those savings. The end result: Operating margins slipped slightly for the second quarter in a row.
That's not necessarily worrisome. It was good enough to find Starbucks matching Wall Street expectations of $0.19 per share in profitability on $2.3 billion in revenue. However, this is the third quarter in a row in which Starbucks has simply matched analyst estimates.
It could be worse. Caribou
Investors aren't buying into Starbucks for ordinary results. Sure, certain catalysts out there may pick things up. The company continues to make headway overseas, growing international sales by 32% this past quarter. The company's also test-installing TurboChef
Let's hope some of these initiatives work. Let's hope that they help make Starbucks less predictable and ordinary. Next time I order a Frappuccino, let it go through a TurboChef oven first.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz can actually walk to two Starbucks from his home, but he's still not much of a coffee sipper. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.