Starbucks shares slide 16% as sales go cold

Chief financial officer Rachel Ruggeri said the quarterly results were hurt by colder-than-usual weather in January that affected store visits across the industry, a more cautious consumer around the world and the Gaza conflict

Starbucks wants to boost product availability and cut wait times, including by updating how it makes some drinks.

Starbucks shares tumbled by as much as 16% on Wednesday a day after revealing its sales fell for the first time since 2020 as half-off deals and new lavender lattes weren’t enough to entice increasingly budget-conscious consumers across the world.

The shares tumble was the most since the early days of the pandemic in March 2020. “Starbucks reported what’s perhaps the worst set of results of any large company so far” this quarter, said Adam Crisafulli, an analyst with Vital Knowledge, in a research note.