Starbucks reported better than expected quarterly results last night, as sales in the US-dominated Americas region soothed concerns that the world's biggest coffee seller had succumbed to a broader restaurant slump.
Starbucks gets the bulk of its sales from the US, where it and other chains have been battling heady competition and unusually low grocery prices.
The company signaled that sales at established US cafes were strengthening slightly, outweighing disappointing profit outlooks for its traditionally robust Christmas quarter and the full year.
Analysts said the company's fiscal 2017 earnings guidance showed Starbucks was being careful in a tough economic and competitive environment.
Starbucks has forecast a double-digit rise for fiscal 2017 revenue. Even a 10% rise from 2016 would slightly top Wall Street's target of $23.1 billion.
The company also forecast 2017 earnings of $2.12 to $2.14 per share, excluding items, which is lower than analysts' estimate of $2.16 per share.
Same-store sales in the US-led Americas region, which produces the lion's share of Starbucks revenue, rose 5% for the fiscal fourth-quarter that ended October 2.
The company's chief operating officer Kevin Johnson told Reuters that sales at Starbucks cafes open at least 13 months accelerated a bit from the third quarter.
However traffic numbers were again down due to the company's recent change to its loyalty programme that assigns rewards based on money spent rather than transactions.
Starbucks forecast a mid-single-digit rise in 2017 same-store sales.
The company said its fourth-quarter net income attributable to shareholders rose to $801m, or 54 cents per share, from $652.5m, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.
Total revenue rose to $5.71 billion from $4.91 billion, topping the average expectation of $5.68 billion.
Starbucks forecast net earnings of 50 cents to 51 cents per share for the fiscal first quarter, which includes major holidays such as Christmas. Analysts had expected a profit of 55 cents per share.
