Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX) is scheduled to release FQ2 2015 results after Thursday’s closing bell. Currently Estimize has 54 estimates for the company, with an EPS consensus of $0.34, one penny above the Wall Street estimate and a revenue consensus of $4.5B, which is in-line with the Street.
The specialty coffee retailer has missed the Estimize EPS consensus by a penny for the last two quarters, but has still managed to put up double-digit profit growth for the last 12 quarters -- although that looks to be slowing. More important than beating on earnings, investors will be paying closer attention to revenues and same-store sales. On Tuesday we saw Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) top estimates on the bottom-line by $0.22, but the stock got slammed due to a revenue miss and same-store sales that fell 1.4 percentage points short of expectations. Analysts anticipate Starbucks to show a 5.1% bump in same-store sales for Q2 -- about in-line with what they reported for the last two quarters.
Starbucks made a big splash in the news last month with its 'Race Together' campaign, in which baristas wrote #RaceTogether on coffee cups in order to spur conversation on race relations. The idea backfired and the socially active company stopped the campaign after a social-media backlash ensued. It’s unlikely the experiment had a negative effect on sales. CEO Howard Schultz has veered into politically sensitive territory before -- such as gun control -- but none of these instances has ever impacted revenues.
One thing that may impact the bottom-line, however, is the company’s recent efforts to increase employee benefits. In January it announced a plan to raise wages for all U.S. employees, offer free meals and even update scheduling software to ensure less erratic work hours. Starbucks also expanded its program to pay for college degrees for baristas, offering full-tuition reimbursement to all college-student employees, not just juniors and seniors. Wage increases have become very popular in recent months, with a slew of multinational companies such as McDonald's (NYSE:MCD)’s, Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT) promising to do the same. While increased labor costs may reduce profits, it’s great for Starbucks’ public image and encourages continued support from customers.
Something Starbucks is doing better than its competitors is technical innovation. It has been at the forefront, including its loyalty program and its mobile app, which now has 13M active users. The company is currently testing a coffee delivery service as well as mobile ordering, which would allow customers to order and pay for items before entering the store to pick them up.