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Starbucks reported a quarterly profit that outstripped analysts' forecasts, and it provided a bright earnings outlook that helped push its shares higher in extended trading.
Excluding one-time items, the coffee shop chain said it earned 24 cents a share in its fiscal fourth quarter, up from 10 cents a share in the same period last year.
Sales came in at $2.4 billion, against a topline of $2.515 billion last year.
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Analysts who follow Starbucks expected the company to report a profit of 21 cents a shareon sales of $2.389 billion.
The company said it expects non-GAAP earnings-per-share growth of 15 to 20 percent year-over-year in 2010. It proects revenue growth in the low to mid-single digits next year.
The stronger-than-expected quarterly profit solidified investor expectations that the chain is turning around after closing cafes and slashing costs.
Chief Financial Officer Troy Alstead said more people are visiting Starbucks' cafes and spending a bit more when they do, a trend that started in the third quarter.
Shares of Starbucks rose more than 5 percent in extended trading Thursday. Get after-hour quotes for Starbucks here.
The stock finished the regular Nasdaq session [SBUX
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] 2.55 percent higher at $19.70.
"We ended the fourth quarter better than we started the fourth quarter. We are very encouraged by the trends we're seeing," CFO Alstead said in an interview with Reuters.
But he added: "Consumers are still in a tough place. I don't know that they're going to celebrate the end of the recession any time soon."
Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz retook the helm in early 2008, and began a restructuring that has included shuttering roughly 900 units, slashing other costs and eliminating waste.
It boosted its direct-to-consumer marketing through rewards cards and online marketing. It also tightened up operations, tidied up its selection of retail items and rolled out new products like Via instant coffee.
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