Starbucks Gets a Revenue Boost During the Holidays

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) current-quarter forecast missed analysts' estimates and the company reported lower-than-expected sales growth at established cafes in its Asia-Pacific division.

The company's shares were down 4 percent at $56.62 in extended trading on Thursday.

The world's biggest coffee chain said Asia Pacific sales at cafes open at least 13 months rose 5 percent in the first quarter ended Dec. 27, but that missed the 6.10 percent rise expected by analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.

Operating margin also declined 240 basis points to 19.4 percent in the region, primarily due to the impact of ownership change of Starbucks Japan in the quarter.

The company forecast second-quarter earnings to be between 38-39 cents per share, excluding items.

Analysts on average were expecting 40 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Total net revenue rose 11.9 percent to $5.37 billion in the first quarter.

Net income attributable to the company fell to $687.6 million, or 46 cents per share, from $983.1 million, or 65 cents per share.

Analysts had expected a profit of 45 cents per share and revenue of $5.39 billion.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)