Starbucks Q2 Earnings Highlight International Growth Push
While the effects of the coronavirus pandemic were not devastating for Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), they were definitely a headwind. Many of its popular coffee shops were closed at least temporarily for in-person seating -- turning away a lucrative source of revenue. The combined effects of the pandemic slashed operating profits by more than half year over year in 2020. And COVID-19 is not finished disrupting the lives of people worldwide.
At the onset of the pandemic, millions of workers worldwide shifted to remote working. That left office buildings in downtown business districts virtually empty. Since Starbucks has plenty of locations in and near business districts, the remote working trend has hurt sales in those areas. That gave Starbucks the opportunity to close many of its stores in dense locations. Those closures led to year-over-year declines in store counts in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Starbucks continued its store growth internationally. Without the hindrance of permanent location closures outside of the U.S., the store growth internationally led to an increased proportion of overall stores outside of the Americas.
Source Fool.com
