Investing.com -- Shares in Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) surged more than 4.5% in after-hours trading after the Seattle-based coffee giant posted record per share earnings for the third quarter and upgraded its full-year guidance on Thursday.
Bolstered by a 7% spike in comparable store sales and an 8% increase in sales among stores that have been opened for at least 13 months, Starbucks saw its revenues soar by 18% during the period to $4.88 billion. The acquisition of a division of stores in Japan, as well as the opening of nearly 1,600 new stores worldwide also contributed to the significant revenue gains.
“Starbucks Q3 fiscal 2015 stands as among the strongest and most remarkable quarters in our over 23 years as a public company,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a statement. “The 4% increase in global transactions we reported equates to our having served an additional 23 million customer occasions in Q3 of this year over last year, clearly evidencing a continuation of the strong momentum we have seen across our business and around the world this fiscal year."
Starbucks reported earnings of $626.7 million on 0.41 per share, above third quarter earnings in 2014 of $512.6 million or 0.34 per share. Analysts expected revenues of $4.86 billion and per share earnings of 0.41.
In addition, Starbucks upwardly revised its full-year guidance from $1.55-$1.57 per share to $1.57-$1.58. Starbucks' mobile order and pay initiative also expanded to over 4,000 U.S. company-operated stores during the quarter. The company expects the program to be available at all of its U.S. operated stores by Christmas.
“Starbucks very strong year over year financial performance in Q3 demonstrates our commitment to delivering best in class financial and operating results while at the same time investing in our future growth - building new stores, renovating existing stores, deploying new technology - investing in our partners and delivering an elevated Starbucks Experience to our customers,” Starbucks CFO Scott Maw said in a statement.
Starbucks' Board of Directors also authorized a share repurchase program that will make 50 million shares available at a total value of $2.78 billion.
Shares in Starbucks gained 2.92 or 5.09% to 59.44 in after-hours trading.