Niccol’s Starbucks Revival Tour Finally Hits Paydirt… Foot Traffic Breaks the Two-Year Curse (+8%)

Better latte than never, I guess…

After two years of customers treating Starbucks like an overpriced museum gift shop, people are (shockingly) walking back through the doors again.

Yes. I’m talking about real, living, breathing traffic growth. The stat Wall Street had already pronounced dead and buried behind a broken espresso machine and a dusty bag of Pike Place.

Shares of Starbucks are up 8% after the chain confirmed something Wall Street thought was extinct: people are voluntarily walking inside again for something other than to use the John. It’s the first transaction growth in two years, and a much-needed emotional win for CEO Brian Niccol, midway through his ongoing “we swear this time it’s fixed” revival campaign.

And before the Starbucks doomers start screenshotting the P&L… relax. I’m aware this wasn’t your typical blowout quarter. It was more like Starbucks finally jogging on the treadmill instead of staring at it.

It turns out, the biggest good news is that customers are back. Like… actually back.

Global same-store sales rose 4%, well ahead of expectations. Traffic jumped 3%, snapping a two-year drought that had investors questioning whether everyone had permanently switched to Dutch Bros or no matter how embarrassing, Dunkin Donuts (ew).

(Source: New York Times)

In the U.S., same-store sales climbed 4%, sparked by holiday hits like the viral Bearista cup and seasonal classics (peppermint mocha remains undefeated). Management even bragged that the holiday menu launch was the best-ever day in North America.

China (Starbucks’ other big cash engine) showed up too. Same-store sales there surged 7%, with traffic up 5%, as the company preps a joint venture with Boyu Capital to run its China business. For context, over 60% of Starbucks’ stores now sit in the U.S. and China, so this part matters. A lot.

What about revenue, you ask? It also came in at a solid $9.92 billion, beating expectations and up 6% year-over-year. It turns out, Brian Niccoll’s whole “trust the process” wasn’t a hope and a prayer… the man stays undefeated… first Taco Bell, then Chipotle, now Starbucks.

(Source: CNBC)

Now let’s get to the not so great news. There’s no other way to soften the blow… because profits really took one on the chin.

Adjusted EPS came in at $0.56, missing estimates. Net income fell hard (from $780 million last year to $293 million) thanks to turnaround costs, higher coffee prices, and tariffs having the willpower to never go away.

Translation: Starbucks is spending money to fix Starbucks.

Niccol basically admitted as much, telling investors the strategy is working… but it’s not free. Think of it like renovating your kitchen: eventually it looks amazing, but for a while you’re eating microwave meals and crying over receipts.

But again, that doesn’t seem so bad when you consider they also opened 128 net new stores this quarter and plan to add 600-650 locations in 2026, even after shutting down roughly 400 U.S. stores last year. Fewer bad locations, more good ones. Radical concept, amirite?

So no, Starbucks didn’t deliver a perfect quarter… but it delivered proof of life. And for shareholders that have been through the thick and thin with the OG coffee chain… that’s a huge vote of confidence to stick with stock.

Because for the first time in two years, Starbucks looks like it might actually be brewing something again.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Starbucks as mentioned in the article.