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Starbucks halted a long sales slide in its fiscal fourth quarter as pumpkin drinks and improved service brought customers back to its stores.
The Seattle coffee giant said Wednesday that its global same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, rose 1% over last year in the July-September period. It was the first time in nearly two years that the company posted an increase in same-store sales.
That increase was largely due to international markets, where same-store sales rose 3%. In the U.S., same-store sales were flat; spending per transaction was up 1% but transactions were down 1%. Still, that was an improvement from the third quarter, when U.S. same-store sales fell 2%.
Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said the results indicate the company’s turnaround, which he put in place after joining Starbucks a little more than a year ago, is working. Niccol has set new hospitality standards, redesigned stores to be cozier and more welcoming, and adjusted staffing levels to better handle peak hours.
New software is also helping stores sequence drive-thru, in-store, and mobile orders, cutting down on wait times. Niccol said 80% of company-operated U.S. stores have in-store wait times averaging four minutes or less, even on high-volume days like this year’s record-breaking U.S. launch of fall drinks in August.
“We still have a lot of work in front of us, but it’s clear we’re moving in the right direction,” Niccol said during a conference call with investors on Wednesday.
Niccol said this year’s holiday season, which kicks off Nov. 6, will allow even more customers to see the difference that Starbucks’ investments have made over the last year.
Still, those changes have been costly. In addition to hiring more staff and redesigning stores, Starbucks incurred $755 million in restructuring charges in the fourth quarter. Late last month, the company laid off 900 non-retail employees and closed 627 stores as part of that restructuring; 90% of them were in North America.
As a result, Starbucks said its profit fell 85% in the fourth quarter to 12 cents per share.
Adjusted for one-time items, including its restructuring costs, Starbucks said it earned 52 cents per share in the fourth quarter. That was lower than the 56-cent profit Wall Street expected, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Starbucks’ shares were flat in after-market trading Wednesday.
Niccol insisted the improvements in service and speed, along with innovations like protein drinks, will pay off in stronger sales.
Starbucks’ net revenue rose 5% to $9.6 billion in the July-September period. That was better than the $9.3 billion Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
“I believe we’re best-positioned to provide the best customer experience in the industry,” Niccol said. “It is as simple as just being greeted when you walk into our stores. And that has changed.”
Niccol said Starbucks also plans to keep price increases in check even as the cost of labor, coffee, and other commodities rises. The company had vowed not to increase prices in its 2025 fiscal year.
“We’re going to be very strategic, very targeted,” Niccol said. “I don’t envision us just doing broad-scale pricing across our menu.”
Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who marked his first year with the company in September, said the fourth-quarter results indicate that Starbucks is making progress in its multi-year turnaround.
Starbucks shares rose nearly 2% in after-hours trading Wednesday.
President Donald Trump said he has made deals with China after meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, the final day of a trip to Asia that was an opportunity for the leaders of the world’s two largest economies to stabilize relations after months of turmoil over trade issues.
Trump made the comments aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington after spending five days in three Asian countries.
Before Trump and Xi sat down for the 1 hour and 40 minute meeting there was a rough idea of the agenda, including tariffs, computer chips, rare earth minerals and other points of tension. Trump repeatedly said he expected to be able to reach a deal with Xi.
Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs since returning to the White House for a second term combined with China’s retaliatory limits on exports of rare earth elements have given the meeting newfound urgency. There is a mutual recognition that neither side wants to risk blowing up the world economy in ways that could jeopardize their own country’s fortunes.
Aboard Air Force One on his way to South Korea, Trump told reporters he may reduce tariffs that he placed on China earlier this year related to its role in making fentanyl.
“I expect to be lowering that because I believe that they’re going to help us with the fentanyl situation,” Trump said, later adding, “The relationship with China is very good.”
The meeting was held in Busan, South Korea, a port city about 76 kilometers (47 miles) south of Gyeongju, the main venue for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
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Trump said nuclear testing ‘will be announced’ but doesn’t offer any more details
The president, while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, seemed to be conflating the testing of missiles that deliver a nuclear warhead and the testing of nuclear weapons.
Trump said that other countries “seem to all be nuclear testing,” but when it comes to the U.S., “We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing.”
The U.S. tests its missiles, as do China and Russia. But the U.S. has not done an explosion test on its nuclear warheads since 1992, and no country outside of North Korea has done those tests on its weapons since the 1990s.
“I see them testing and I say, well, if they’re going to test, I guess we have to test,” Trump said.
Trump was asked where the tests would occur and he said, “It’ll be announced. We have test sites.”
Tariffs on Chinese exports are now 47%, Trump says
The new rate comes from Trump deciding not to move forward with his latest tariff threat, which would have created a 157% levy.
Trump decided to reduce the current rate from 57% to 47% because China agreed to help more in reducing the flow of fentanyl ingredients.
Trump says he’ll work with Xi on Ukraine war
“We’re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,” he said.
However, Trump suggested that “there’s not a lot more we can do.”
He said, “The sides are locked in, fighting, and sometimes you’ve got to let them fight, I guess.”
Trump said they did not discuss China’s purchase of Russian oil, which boosts Moscow’s economy during the conflict.
China and Nvidia will talk about chips, Trump says
The U.S. president said China will speak with Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia about purchasing its computer chips.
“We make great chips,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “Nvidia’s the leader.”
It wouldn’t include the next-generation Blackwell AI chip, “but a lot of the chips,” Trump said.
Trump says he’d return for a Kim Jong Un meeting
The U.S. president, speaking with reporters after departing South Korea, said he did not connect with the North Korean leader during his Asia trip.
He stressed that the two leaders maintained a good relationship and said he’d be willing to return for a Kim visit.
“I’d come back with respect to Kim Jong Un,” Trump said.
The two men met three times during Trump’s first term.
A thaw with Canada?
Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shared a dinner table last night in Gyeongju, where they were both visiting.
“We had a very nice conversation with him last night,” Trump said.
The president has been angry at Canada, even increasing tariffs, because of a critical television advertisement about his trade policy.
Trump says Taiwan wasn’t discussed
There was speculation ahead of the meeting that Xi would push Trump to reduce U.S. support for the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China views as part of its territory. But Trump said they didn’t talk about it.
“Taiwan never came up,” he said.
Trump updates his travel plans
The president said he would go to China in April, and then Xi would visit the U.S. after that.
It’s the most specific he’s been about plans for next steps between the two leaders.
Trump says he’s reached deals with Xi
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said China would end restrictions on rare earth exports and buy American soybeans. He also said the U.S. would reduce tariffs that were implemented earlier this year as punishment for the flow of fentanyl ingredients.
When discussing how he would rate the meeting on a scale from 1 to 10, Trump said it would be a 12.
Trump heads back to the U.S.
The president headed home, wrapping up a trip to Asia that had Trump spending five days in three countries.
His long flight back to Washington has him scheduled to land Thursday afternoon, where he’s shortly thereafter expected to attend a White House Halloween celebration.
What did Trump and Xi talk about?
Before the meeting, there was a rough idea of the agenda, including tariffs, computer chips, rare earth minerals, and other points of tension. Trump repeatedly said he expected to be able to reach a deal with Xi.
But there was no immediate word on their conversation once it ended. Trump boarded Air Force One without speaking to reporters, and the White House did not make any announcements.
Trump boards Air Force One
With the 1 hour and 40 minute meeting with Xi over, Trump boarded the stairs to his plane. He pumped his fist at the top and waved before stepping inside.
The president is returning to Washington after stops in Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea.
Trump and Xi end their meeting
The two leaders walked out of the building alongside each other, briefly chatting in front of the cameras. They shook hands and Trump leaned in as if he was whispering in Xi’s ear.
Trump-Xi meeting is underway
The two leaders welcomed the press in for brief introductory remarks but now are talking behind closed doors flanked by their top officials.
Journalists left the meeting room shortly after 11:15 a.m. local time in Busan.
Trump said he and Xi could meet for as long as three hours. The official White House schedule, however, has the meeting running just under two hours.
Xi says US and China should be ‘partners and friends’ despite ‘frictions’
The Chinese leader spoke for longer than Trump in his opening remarks, saying, “it feels very warm seeing you again because it’s been many years.”
“We do not always see eye to eye with each other,” Xi said through a translator, adding that “it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then.”
However, he said, China and the U.S. “are fully able to help each other succeed and prosper together.”
Trump and Xi convene their bilateral meeting
Shortly after their handshake, Trump and Xi moved to a room to hold their talks.
“It’s an honor to be with a friend of mine,” Trump said of Xi. He said the two will be having some discussions, but “I think we’ve already agreed to a lot of things.”
Accompanying Trump were trade representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and David Perdue, the U.S. ambassador to China.
Trump announces nuclear weapon tests
There was no indication that the U.S. would start detonating warheads, and the military already regularly tests its missiles and other equipment.
The president suggested changes were necessary because other countries were testing their weapons. Russia has announced multiple tests recently.
Trump wrote on social media while en route to Busan that the Pentagon will “start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis” and “that process will begin immediately.”
The White House did not immediately respond to questions seeking more details.
The Tokyo Mobility Show is highlighting more than just cars or the types of fuel they use, from electric to hydrogen, but also various kinds of futuristic transport.
Think scuttling robotic chairs, like the Uni-One from Honda Motor Co. The Tokyo-based maker of the Accord sedan says it is all about personal mobility as a mode for quick transport by 2035. Just sit on the boxlike machine as it zips around quietly.
Toyota Motor Corp. showed a helicopter-like aircraft with six propellers, which was still in development in cooperation with U.S. aviation company Joby.
Such gadgetry, as well as more regular vehicles, are on display at the show, which runs through Nov. 9 at Tokyo Big Sight exhibition space. It was previewed to the media on Wednesday, ahead of its opening to the public on Thursday.
Looming in the backdrop of the fanfare is the threat of auto tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump, raised to 15% from 2.5%, although an improvement from the 25% he slapped on initially.
Trump’s tariffs are expected to erase more than 2 trillion yen ($13 billion) off automakers’ annual operating profits, according to calculations from recent earnings.
Masahiro Moro, chief executive of Mazda Motor Corp., among the worst hit of the Japanese automakers, said his engineers were developing cars that understood drivers’ emotions, as well as those that contribute to sustainability by reducing carbon emissions the more you drive.
“We believe the joy of driving has the power to shape the future,” he told reporters.
Nissan Motor Corp. showed a prototype, or experimental model, of its Sakura electric car, fitted with a solar-system roof that slides out at the top, called “Ao-Solar Extender,” to generate power while the car is parked. The word “ao” means “blue” in Japanese.
Nissan said the model’s message is about adding value to one’s life, as the generated power can be used for other gadgets around the house, as well as work as a power station during disasters. The concept car targets environmentally conscious moms, according to Nissan.
“Japan is at the center of what we do because we are a Japanese company,” Nissan Chief Ivan Espinosa said on the sidelines of the show.
While in town earlier this week for talks with new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Trump also met with the heads of Japan’s businesses, including Espinosa. The exchange of ideas was constructive, according to Espinosa.
Nissan, as well as Toyota, said they were considering importing their own models made in the U.S. back into Japan as a way to mitigate the trade imbalance.
The Japanese government has promised to buy Fords and invest $550 billion in the U.S.
Japanese automakers export more than a million autos to the U.S., while selling 4.4 million vehicles a year in Japan. Only about 16,000 American cars were sold in Japan, a tiny fraction of the Japanese auto market. Japanese cars make up about 40% of the American market, according to Cox Automotive, although many of the vehicles sold there are made at U.S. plants.
Toyota Chief Executive Koji Sato said customers’ tastes differed by markets, and offerings must be tailored to meet various needs.
“We want to be an important part of the American auto industry with a long-term perspective,” he told a small group of reporters.
Toyota showed a still-developing tiny collapsible electric bicycle called Land Hopper that Japan’s top automaker suggests should get packed in the upcoming Land Cruiser FJ, the latest version of the hit recreational vehicle that had its beginnings in 1951 as the Toyota BJ.
A flagship model, Land Cruiser sales have topped 12 million in 190 countries and regions. Targeting Japanese off-roaders, the new Land Cruiser FJ goes on sale in Japan next year — with a 2.7-liter (1-gallon) gasoline engine.
Japanese exports to the U.S. have risen in recent months as automakers tried to beat the tariffs. The crunch is expected to hit next year.
“Automakers will look to increase U.S. production where possible and diversify export destinations to other key markets, such as Australia and Canada,” said Darcey Bowling, auto analyst at BMI.
“We expect that Japan’s vehicle market will face challenges due to the elevated U.S. tariffs.”