Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX) fans are getting ready to pay more for their coffee drinks. Starbucks has announced on the company website that it will be implementing “a small price increase on select beverages” that will be launched on July 12. The company has not specified exactly what drinks will go up in price. Prices for Starbucks products vary depending on location and the specific order.
Regular customers should not be surprised. Starbucks has increased prices in the first week of July for the past two years. Last year, costs increased between 5 cents and 20 cents depending on the drink and location. Company baristas say they often don’t know about the price increases until they show up in the company’s computer system.
Starbucks recently announced that it had “prematurely” launched the price adjustment into its systems at U.S. locations. Because the store’s systems put the future price hikes into effect a week too soon, customers were overcharged for those select drinks. It has since fixed the glitch.
The reason for the price increase has not been disclosed by the company. It is not believed to be because of a jump in coffee prices. According to Nasdaq, coffee prices are currently slightly up from a low reached in January. However, the price of coffee is less than half what it was in 2014.
According to its last quarterly earnings data released on April 21, Starbucks reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter. This matched the consensus of polled Wall Street analysts. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted earnings per share of $0.33. Revenue for the quarter was $5 billion, up 9.4 percent on a year-over-year basis yet lower than analysts’ estimates of $5.02 billion in revenue. Analysts forecast earnings per share of $1.89 for the company in the current fiscal year.
