Starbucks quarterly balance sheet is affected by the boycott
The revenue of Starbucks, one of the companies that faced protests and boycott campaigns due to Israel’s attacks on Gaza, decreased in the January-March period.
US coffee chain Starbucks, which considers the three-month period ending on March 31, 2024 as the second quarter in the financial calendar, announced its balance sheet.
Accordingly, the company’s revenues decreased by 2 percent on an annual basis in the January-March period, falling to approximately 8.6 billion dollars. Market expectations were that the company would generate revenue of $9.1 billion in this period.
Starbucks’ same-store sales, which were expected to increase during this period, also recorded their first decline since the end of 2020, decreasing by 4 percent. Traffic at Starbucks stores also decreased by 6 percent.
The company’s profit per share, which was 79 cents in the January-March period last year, decreased to 68 cents in the same period this year. The company was expected to bring in earnings of 79 cents per share.
Adverse winds continue
“Our performance this quarter was disappointing and did not meet our expectations,” Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said in the investor teleconference he held after the company’s balance sheet was announced. made his assessment. Emphasizing that they faced a challenging working environment, Narasimhan explained that the headwinds in the previous quarter continued.
Narasimhan stated that they continue to feel the effect of a more cautious consumer in some important markets, and said that the worsening economic outlook also affects sales by putting pressure on customer traffic.
Explaining that they still see economic fluctuations in the Middle East, Narasimhan stated that they maintain their confidence in the long-term growth opportunities of the region. Starbucks executives attributed the slowdown in sales in the previous quarter to boycotts targeting the company due to the “misperception” of the company’s attitude towards Israel.