Starbucks touted a turnaround" at the company after reporting a rise in revenue — tempered by a major fall in profit — in its latest quarterly earnings released Wednesday.

In the fourth quarter, the Seattle-based coffee giant raked in $9.6 billion in consolidated net revenues, which beat analyst predictions. It's a 5.5% increase from the same quarter a year ago.

"We’re a year into our ‘Back to Starbucks’ strategy, and it’s clear that our turnaround is taking hold,” CEO Brian Niccol said Wednesday in a statement. He took the company's reins in September 2024.

But Starbucks' profit took a blow this quarter, plunging 85% from the same quarter a year ago to $133 million. Some of that was due to Niccol's $1 billion restructuring plan announced last month — and it's already sparked major changes at the company since.

Starbucks' global store sales proved better than analysts expected.

While the company's store sales in the U.S. and North America were described as "flat," store sales around the world inched up 1% — the first time that sort of growth has been recorded in seven quarters, according to Starbucks. Store sales outside North America jumped 3%.

"Q4 was a milestone quarter in getting ‘Back to Starbucks’, having delivered global comp growth for the first time in seven quarters," Chief Financial Officer Cathy Smith said in a statement. "We know this continues to be a multi-year turnaround."

The latest earnings follow mixed third-quarter results, which included increased revenue and decreased profit.

Fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 28, wrapped with a 3% boost year over year for consolidated net revenues, totaling around $37 billion.

"We’ve got more work to do, but our return to global comp growth and the momentum we’re building give me confidence we’re on the right path to deliver the very best of Starbucks for our customers and shareholders," Niccol said.

'Highly unusual' call

Nick Setyan, senior analyst at corporate investment banking company Mizuho Americas, described Wednesday's earnings call as "highly unusual."

The irregularity wasn't due to the company's performance, with the fourth quarter results "largely in line — maybe even a little bit better than some of the whisper numbers," or earnings forecasts on Wall Street, Setyan said. Starbucks stocks were up because of it.

However, stocks flattened when the company didn't provide analysts like Setyan with forward-looking guidance, he said, such as Starbucks' annual expectations for its margins and the reasons behind those predictions.

Setyan said he left the call surprised and disappointed because the company provided none of the typical information, which limits analysts' visibility into Starbucks.

"The biggest takeaway is that there's nothing we learned today that we didn't know yesterday," he said. "We did not get any useful new information."

Instead, analysts were told that Starbucks will provide guidance in February on its investor day, Setyan said.

His impression: A lot of questions linger about the company's turnaround, which has been underway for over a year.

"To do that after a year just kind of tells you that they still don't know what the fix is," Setyan said.

Starbucks didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on why guidance was withheld.

In the earnings call, Niccol instead made forward-looking statements relevant to consumers.

He said the holiday season at Starbucks will be "iconic," with a return of the eggnog latte, peppermint mocha, snowman cookie and other customer favorites. Products like the "Bearista" cold cup — a bear-shaped glass cup — and the Hello Kitty merchandise collaboration will be available for patrons to purchase.

Renovations have been completed at around 70 coffeehouses, with more than 1,000 slated by the end of fiscal 2026, according to Starbucks.

Next year, the stores will also introduce "bake cases" to feature new artisanal baked goods and enhance Starbucks' matcha menu.

The company will also serve as the "official coffee partner" of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

"Our intent is to become the world’s best customer service company," Niccol said.

Store closures and layoffs

In his initial announcement of the company's restructuring plan in September, Niccol said 900 corporate employees would be laid off, and an unidentified number of stores would close around the continent.

A total of 627 stores shuttered as a result — 90% of which were located in North America, according to Wednesday's earnings.

The slew of shutterings included over 30 Washington locations — Seattle's Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill and Reserve store in Sodo among them.

Niccol said store closures were due to factors like financial performance and lease expirations in his announcement at the time.

In its earnings, Starbucks elaborated that coffeehouses had to have "a viable path to offering the physical environment consistent with the brand and a clear path to financial performance.

The fourth quarter ended with almost 17,000 stores in the U.S. and around 8,000 stores in China. The two countries make up 61% of Starbucks' global portfolio.

The coffee giant is homing in on potential buyers for stakes of its Chinese business, and national media outlets reported Tuesday that Boyu Capital, a Chinese private equity firm, is the likely favorite.

Starbucks has also culled its workforce this year.

The company is laying off 974 employees — both retail and nonretail workers — in Seattle and Kent, according to a state filing this month. Local store shutterings also resulted in the layoffs of 369 retail employees statewide.

Layoffs take effect Dec. 5 for both groups. They follow a separate round in February when 1,100 corporate employees were laid off.

©2025 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.