Starbucks Posts Hot Cafe Sales, But Shares Slide on Forecast

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) brewed up another quarter of strong sales and profit growth, but its shares fell more than 3% after the richly valued cafe chain's 2016 forecast offered little upside to Wall Street's target.

Starbucks said on Thursday global sales at cafes open at least 13 months were up 8% in the fourth quarter ended Sept. 27, beating than the 6.9% rise expected by analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.

Those sales grew 7% in the third quarter.

Starbucks' U.S.-dominated Americas unit contributes the majority of Starbucks' revenue. It also includes Canada and Latin America.

The Seattle-based company's net earnings jumped 11% to $652.5 million, or 43 cents per share, matching analysts' average target according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Starbucks also forecast fiscal 2016 earnings, excluding items, of $1.87 to $1.89 per share, in line with analysts' average call for $1.88 per share.

Shares of the company fell $2.05 in after-hours trading, after closing at $62.50 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Richard Chang)