Ahead of the Bell: Starbucks fiscal 1Q results

posted: 21 DAYS 4 HOURS AGO

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SEATTLE -Starbucks Corp. is set to report first-quarter results Wednesday afternoon, and investors are waiting to see what the world's largest coffee chain says about how its efforts to fix its business are going.

Last year, the company cut costs, laid off workers and reinvented much of the food sold in its shops. It shut roughly 800 locations and tweaked prices for some drinks.

That helped it begin its new year heading in a new direction. After ending last fiscal year with a profit increase in the fourth quarter, Starbucks expects sales to rise for the new fiscal year as a whole. In the fall, it predicted sales in stores open at least a year, considered a key restaurant measure, also will rise after two years of declines. The company plans to open about 300 new locations, about one-third in the United States, in 2010.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Starbucks to earn 28 cents per share on $2.66 billion in revenue.

The Seattle company's first-quarter ended Dec. 27.

Shares rose 31 cents, or 1.3 percent, to close Tuesday at $23.58.

2010-01-20 06:35:27