Starbucks reported better-than-expected revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter as its U.S. sales improved.
The Seattle-based company said Wednesday its net revenue rose 5% to $9.6 billion in the July-September period. That was better than the $9.3 billion Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Starbucks’ global same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, rose 1% compared to the same period a year ago. It was the first time in seven quarters that the company posted an increase in same-store sales.
That increase was largely due to markets outside North America, where same-store sales rose 3%. In North America and the U.S., same-store sales were flat. But that was still an improvement from the third quarter, when U.S. same-store sales fell 2%.
But the improvement comes at a cost. Starbucks said its profit fell 85% in the fourth quarter to 12 cents per share as it carried out a aimed at underperforming stores.
The company announced last month that it was laying off 900 non-retail employees and closing hundreds of stores. On Wednesday, Starbucks said it closed 627 stores as part of that restructuring; 90% of them were in North America.
Adjusted for one-time items, including its restructuring costs, Starbucks said it earned 52 cents per share in the fourth quarter. That was lower than the 56-cent profit analysts had forecast, according to FactSet.
Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who marked his first year with the company in September, said the fourth-quarter results indicate that Starbucks is making progress in its multi-year turnaround.
Niccol has set new and adjusted staffing levels to better handle peak hours. New software is also helping stores sequence orders, cutting down on wait times.
Starbucks shares rose nearly 2% in after-hours trading Wednesday.
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