Starbucks shares fall as company cuts profit growth forecast

NEW YORK – Starbucks shares tumbled Wednesday after the company lowered its 2020 earnings forecast.

In a presentation to Goldman Sachs’ Global Retaining Conference, the Seattle-based coffee giant said it expects adjusted earnings to grow less than 10% in its 2020 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Its prior outlook was for 13% growth.

Wall Street had been anticipating 10.6% earnings growth in the 2020 fiscal year, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Starbucks Corp. said the change was due to two one-time items: accelerated share repurchases and tax benefits that boosted 2019 earnings. Starbucks completed a $2 billion share repurchase program in June, pulling it ahead of the 2020 fiscal year.

Starbucks reiterated its earnings forecast for the 2019 fiscal year, which it raised in July. The company expects earnings per share in the range of $2.80 to $2.82. At the midpoint, that would be up 16% from 2018.

Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Patrick Grismer said Starbucks is delivering on its expectations.

“I would say we’re firing on all cylinders from an operating performance perspective with the focus and discipline necessary to drive growth at scale for a company like Starbucks,” he said. “Our long-term double-digit EPS growth model is fully intact.”

Starbucks shares fell 3.5% to $93.46 in morning trading.