雅虎香港財經 Starbucks CFO: Price increases to moderate in time for pumpkin spice latte season
Some relief for consumers by pumpkin spice latte season: Starbucks' prices should moderate compared to last year said the coffee giant's CFO.
Without additions like cold foam or extra syrup, Starbucks (SBUX) CFO Rachel Ruggeri said the price of drinks like the PSL will be "basically" the same this fall compared to last year as menu price increases return to normal levels.
"We would expect that [changes in price] to start to moderate in the back half of the year, as we get to more historical levels of pricing, which we've shared is typically around 1% to 2%," Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggeri said.
Ruggeri said more recent price increases were "taken more in line with inflationary pressures." Historically though, price increases were intended to "support some of our investments and our overall productivity."
The price increases have been paying off. In Starbucks' fiscal second quarter, which ended April 2, the average ticket size increased 6% year-over-year. How much Starbucks raised menu prices year-over-year in Q2 was not shared, but as of Q4 2022, Starbucks raised menu prices by 5% over a 12-month period.
Customers can still expect (and essentially choose ) to pay higher prices for premium products. For example, by paying up for the Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew and modifiers like extra syrup and cold foam, which customers can add to their beverage orders.
"Between our premium products, between our modifiers...customers have a choice in terms of how they customize their beverage," Ruggeri said.
Despite the higher prices, U.S. consumers continue to spend at Starbucks.
In the U.S., same-store sales increased 12% in fiscal Q2, largely driven by a 6% uptick in transactions year-over-year and a 6% increase in average ticket size.
"We continue to see our customers return to us for reasons of the product innovation...in areas like refreshers, iced shaken espresso, cold foam, those are difficult to make at home, they give customers a reason to come in," Ruggeri said.
Customers also are staying loyal to the chain by uploading money onto their Starbucks app and using it to pay for purchases, despite changes that went into effect February 13. The number of total active members increased by 15% last quarter to 30.8 million. Year-over-year, total members are up by 4 million. Reward members also made up a record 57% of U.S. company-operated revenue in Q2, up 3% year-over-year.
In April, the company is seeing ongoing "momentum" from U.S. consumers, which Ruggeri said was "supported" by its reiterated fiscal guidance range of 7% to 9% in Q3.
While she called it a "a pretty impressive guidance," the Street seemed to have wanted more given the consumer demand.
Shares fell more than 9% at one point on Wednesday, reversing some gains made year-to-date. Share prices are now up around 5% from January.
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Brooke DiPalma is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma@yahoofinance.com.
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