Food Offerings, Loyalty Program in Focus When Starbucks Reports Results--Earnings Preview

By Julie Jargon 

Starbucks Corp. is scheduled to announce its fiscal-third-quarter earnings after the market closes on Thursday. Here's what you need to know:

EARNINGS FORECAST: Net income of $0.41 a share is the consensus of analysts surveyed by Consensus Metrix, compared with $0.67 a year earlier.

SAME-STORE SALES AND REVENUE FORECAST: Analysts are expecting Starbucks to post a 6.2% increase in global same-store sales for the quarter, driven by its China and Asia Pacific segment. The company is expected to report revenue of nearly $4.9 billion, compared with $4.2 billion a year earlier.

WHAT TO WATCH:

MOBILE PAY: Starbucks has been leading the industry with an app that allows customers to order and pay ahead for their coffee using their phones, allowing them to bypass the line in stores. Starbucks began testing the app in Portland, Ore., in December and then rolled it out to all 650 stores in the Pacific Northwest in March. A recent survey from RBC Capital Markets suggests it is going to reshape the way people expect to order and pay for things. The survey found that 14% of orders in that region are coming from the app and that customers who use it, on average, spend 15% more than those who don't. Starbucks rolled out the app to 3,400 additional stores in the southern and central U.S. last month.

FOOD: Food sales are becoming increasingly important to Starbucks as it branches out beyond coffee. A higher percentage of its sales are coming from food as Starbucks seeks to woo guests with reasons to visit its cafes during off-peak hours such as lunch and dinner. Late last year Starbucks said it plans to double its annual revenue from food in the U.S. to more than $4 billion in the next five years. The company acknowledged that the quality of its food didn't always match the quality of its coffee, so it acquired Bay Bread LLC and its line of La Boulange baked goods in 2012. The company recently decided to close the La Boulange pastry shops, located mostly in San Francisco, but the brand lives on in its cafes.

LOYALTY: Starbucks has been looking for new ways to leverage its popular rewards program, by which customers earn stars that can be redeemed for drinks. Starbucks has 10 million customers signed up for its rewards program. Starbucks in May teamed up with music-streaming service Spotify to allow its subscribers to get reward points they can redeem at Starbucks, in the first of what Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said will be similar tie-ups with other companies. Loyalty programs are critical ways for companies to retain and attract new customers, and investors might be wondering what Mr. Schultz has in mind next to grow its customer base.

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