Starbucks revenue falls short as Covid hurts China sales, coffee chain offers mixed fiscal 2022 outlook

Starbucks is expected to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday.

Here’s what Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv are expecting:

• Earnings per share: 99 cents expected
• Revenue: $8.21 billion expected

Analysts surveyed by StreetAccount expect Starbucks’ same-store sales will rise 18.3%, but the primary focus will be on the global coffee chain’s largest two markets.

In the United States, the delta variant and its fallout, like the delays in the return to offices, could have resulted in weaker demand for Starbucks’ coffee drinks.

In China, the company’s second-biggest market, the focus will be the country’s recovery. Starbucks warned last quarter that it was going slower than anticipated, and resurgences of Covid-19 likely didn’t help.

Investors will also want to know how Starbucks is handling staffing, inflation and supply chain challenges, which have all been headaches for companies across the restaurant industry. On Wednesday, Starbucks announced that it would raise wages for workers at least twice in 2022, bringing its average pay from $14 an hour to $17 an hour by the summer.

As the company closes out its fiscal year, it’s expected to release a forecast for fiscal 2022. Wall Street is expecting it to earn $3.73 per share, up 15.6% from fiscal 2021, on revenue of $32.07 billion.

Shares of the company have risen more than 5% this year, giving it a market value of $133 billion.