Starbucks looks to protein drinks and other new products to turn around lagging US sales next year

Starbucks says it’s confident that new products coming next year – including a cold foam protein drink, coconut water-based beverages, and improved baked goods – will help turn around the company’s lagging US sales. In the meantime, slow US demand continues to be a drag on the company’s results.

Seattle-based Starbucks said Tuesday its revenue rose 4 percent to 9.5 billion in its fiscal third quarter. That was better than the 9.3 billion Wall Street expected, according to analysts polled by FactSet. But same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 2 percent in the April–June period. That was a bigger decline than Wall Street expected, and it was the sixth straight quarter that Starbucks reported lower same-store sales. Same-store sales were up in China, Starbucks’ second-largest market, but they fell 2 percent in the US.

Starbucks is spending heavily to turn that around. One big expense in the quarter was a two-day meeting in Las Vegas where the company hosted 14,000 store managers and regional leaders. The company said its adjusted earnings fell 46 percent to 50 cents per share for the quarter. That was lower than the 65 cents analysts had forecast.