China Shows Starbucks the Path Forward

Certainly, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) had a challenging fiscal second quarter (ended March 29, 2020). Across the company, same-store sales (comps) fell 10%, driven by lower customer traffic. Broken out by region, the Americas segment experienced a 3% comps drop, and the international business saw an eye-popping 31% decline. But it's not all bad news for the coffee giant.

Obviously, these results were impacted by the onset of the coronavirus as the company shut down stores in China and then elsewhere. Management deserves credit for being proactive, ultimately closing 80% of its more than 4,000 locations in China by early February.

When COVID-19 spread to the United States, Starbucks started closing locations in mid-March, with the majority of its roughly 10,000 company-operated U.S. and Canadian stores closed by late March while others were restricted to delivery and drive-thru. Additionally, many of the approximately 8,200 licensed stores also shut down.

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Source Fool.com