Starbucks reports quarterly sales fall as US and China customer traffic weakens

Starbucks’ revenue fell 1% in the April-June period as customer traffic weakened in the US and China.

The Seattle coffee giant reported revenue of 9.1 billion dollars for its fiscal third quarter.

That was lower than the 9.2 billion dollars Wall Street anticipated, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Starbucks said global same-store sales – or sales at locations open at least a year – fell 3%.

Analysts had expected a 2.7% drop.

In China, where Starbucks is feeling pressure from lower-priced rivals, same-store sales plunged 14%.

Chinese customers visited less often and spent less per visit, Starbucks said.

In the US, same-store sales fell 2%.

Starbucks said higher spending per visit helped offset a slowdown in traffic.

But the company pointed out some positive signs, including a 7% increase in US loyalty members during the quarter.

Starbucks said its net income fell 7.6% to 1.05 billion dollars, or 93 cents per share.

That was in line with analysts’ forecasts.

Starbucks isn’t the only chain seeing a slowdown in purchases by inflation-weary consumers.

McDonald’s said earlier this week that its same-store sales fell 1% in the April-June period, the first decline since the final quarter of 2020.

McDonald’s also noted weakness in China as well as the US.

Starbucks shares rose 1% in after-hours trading on Tuesday.