Good afternoon. My name is Diego, and I will be your conference operator today. I would like to welcome everyone to Starbucks' Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2024 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the call over to Tiffany Willis, Vice President of Investor Relations and ESG engagement. Ms. Willis, you may begin your conference.

Welcome and good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Starbucks' second quarter fiscal year 2024 results. Today's discussion will be led by Laxman Narasimhan, Chief Executive Officer; and Rachel Ruggeri, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. And for Q&A, we'll be joined by Belinda Wong, Chairwoman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks China; Brady Brewer, Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks International; and Michael Conway, Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks North America. This conference call will include forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these statements. Any such statements should be considered in conjunction with cautionary statements in our earnings release and risk factors discussed in our filings with the SEC, including our latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Starbucks assumes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements or information. GAAP results in the second quarter fiscal year 2024 and the comparative period include several items related to strategic actions, including restructuring and impairment charges, transaction and integration costs, and other items. These items are excluded from our non-GAAP results. All numbers referenced on today's call are on a non-GAAP basis unless otherwise noted or there is no non-GAAP adjustment related to the metric. As part of our non-GAAP results, revenue, operating margin and EPS growth metrics on today's call are measured in constant currency, whereby current period results are converted into United States dollars using the average monthly exchange rates from the comparative period rather than the actual exchange rates for the current period, excluding related hedging activities. For non-GAAP financial measures mentioned in today's call, please refer to the earnings release on our website at investor.starbucks.com to find reconciliations of those non-GAAP measures to their corresponding GAAP measures. This conference call is being webcast, and an archive of the webcast will be available on our website through Friday, June 14, 2024. Also for calendar planning purposes, please note that our third quarter fiscal year 2024 earnings conference call has tentatively been scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, 2024. And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Laxman.

Thank you, Tiffany, and thank you all for joining us this afternoon. Let me be clear from the beginning. Our performance this quarter was disappointing and did not meet our expectations. Our Q2 total company revenue was $8.6 billion, down 1% year-over-year. Our global comparable store sales declined 4% year-over-year, driven by a negative 3% comp growth in North America led by declining traffic and a negative 11% comp growth in China. Our global operating margins contracted by 140 basis points to 12.8%, and our overall earnings per share declined by 7% to $0.68. While these results do not reflect our strengths, our capabilities or the opportunities ahead, we confront these challenges from a position of enduring strength. We have led the industry for more than 50 years because we have built a different kind of company, one that exceeds our partner expectations, one that delivers a distinctive and unique experience for our customers and one anchored in the love and craft of coffee. As a result, our worldwide brand equity remains resilient and strong. Our leadership in coffee remains unmatched. Our global base of customers remains loyal. Our experiences are differentiated and elevated, our partners are talented and engaged. Our forward-looking product pipeline is highly appealing. Our distinctive store development capability continues to perform incredibly well. Our network of stores is healthy and robust. Our stores are executing better than ever with a stronger operating foundation. Overall, partner engagement is very strong. Our Triple Shot with 2 Pumps Reinvention strategy continues to deliver, and our possibilities as a company remain limitless. Still, we face a challenging operating environment. Headwinds discussed last quarter have continued. In a number of key markets, we continue to feel the impact of a more cautious consumer, particularly with our more occasional customer, and a…

Thank you, Laxman, and good afternoon, everyone. As Laxman shared, our performance this quarter did not reflect what we're capable of as a company. We have an incredible brand, loyal customers globally, a strong portfolio of highly profitable stores and in connection with our partners and customers that's unlike any other in our industry. We know that we can and we will do better. While it was a difficult quarter, we learned from our own underperformance and recognize the onus is on us to execute. We've sharpened our focus and with our comprehensive road map of well-thought out actions, the path forward is clear. With that, let me turn to our results. Our Q2 consolidated revenue was $8.6 billion, down 1% from the prior year due primarily to a 4% decline in comparable store sales driven by lower transactions, partially offset by 8% net new company-operated store growth over the prior year. Q2 consolidated operating margin contracted 140 basis points from the prior year to 12.8%, primarily driven by deleverage, partner wages and benefit investments as well as promotional activities, partially offset by pricing and our continued execution against reinvention-related in-store operational efficiencies, which drove approximately 150 basis point savings in the quarter. Q2 EPS was down -- was $0.68, down 7% from the prior year, primarily due to the contraction of operating income in both the North America and International segments as a result of lower revenue. I'll now provide segment highlights for Q2. North America revenue was $6.4 billion in Q2, flat to the prior year as 5% net new company-operated store growth was mostly offset by a 3% decline in comparable store sales driven by a 7% decrease in transactions partially offset by a 4% increase in average ticket. Our U.S. company-operated business posted a 3% comparable…

[Operator Instructions] with that, our first question comes from Sara Senatore with Bank of America.

I guess it's a two-part question about trends that you were talking about. The first is that you talked about weather as a headwind, and then you said that lavender late in the quarter was one of the strongest launches you've had similar to PSL. But your exit rate -- it sounds like you're saying your exit rate was largely unchanged. So I'm trying to reconcile what would appear to have been headwinds that aren't reoccurring and then very successful innovation with the guidance and the exit rates. That's the first part. And the second is just in terms of the cautious consumer. Typically, I think what we'd see is check management, and you don't seem to be seeing that. I think mix is still a tailwind for you. So it seems to me that there's not as much evidence of consumer caution as perhaps just some of what you were talking about, the Starbucks specific, so if you could just comment on those.

Sara, thank you for your question. Let me address both of them by pointing to the underlying pressures that we see consumers face just in terms of what they have available to spend. So there's no question that if you take some of these transitory headwinds out, which, of course, are not an excuse in any way, and you look at the underlying headwinds particularly around the pressures that consumers face particularly with the occasional customer, what we're seeing is that's where the challenge is. It's a challenge with their traffic and it's their challenge with them coming into our stores. If you look at our most loyal customers, they're coming in often. They're seeing the value that we provide in Starbucks Rewards, in our app. They are premiumizing through customization as in the past. And so therefore, what you see there is you see a strong business with our loyal customers particularly those within the environments of the Starbucks app. What we are focused on is, first, how we meet the demand we already have through ensuring that our partners have the processes and the tools at the peak in order to meet the demand of customers who, at this moment, are choosing not to complete their transactions in Mobile Order, Pay. The second thing is we're clearly launching new products, and our pipeline is very strong. And what we are doing, though, as part of that is the third element, is how we reach and deliver value to the more occasional customers as well as those that are not in the Starbucks Rewards ecosystem. And that's where the challenge lies. And that's how you reconcile the 2 points that you had made. So we have a lot in our control, and we are focused on it. And we're focusing on the execution of those 3 opportunities, as I laid out, in North America.

And our next question comes from Brian Harbour with Morgan Stanley.

When you talk about the more occasional customer, I'm curious, is that often a younger customer? And I think the broader question is just is there any sort of brand resonance issue with perhaps some of that customer base? Do you think there's sort of a product resonance issue with them? Is there more that needs to be done than just kind of accelerating the pace of new products and some of the other drivers that you talked about in the near term?

Brian, thank you for your question. I think that if you look at our overall brand equity, it is and continues to be strong. If you look at the scores around value for what I get, strong. So if I look at the occasional customer, though, they're clearly making choices based on the economic pressures they face. What they look for from us is they look for variety. They look for the core. 50% of what we have in the afternoon, as an example, is coffee. So obviously, coffee is really important, and distinctiveness of coffee is very important. But they are looking for variety and they're looking for value. And what we're focused on is ensuring that we find a way to connect with them, to bring them into our app ecosystem in order for them to see the value that we provide inside there. That's why you're going to see the actions we take in May. You're going to see the actions that we take in July as we open up the app to all. That is going to make them, particularly in North America, be able to see the value that we provide in a way that's much easier for them. And as they build loyalty over time, they will see even more value as they come into the system. So that's as far as North America goes and the steps that we are taking.

Our next question comes from Jeffrey Bernstein with Barclays.

Great. A broader question on the global unit growth, just more broadly, your confidence or, I guess, the prudence in maintaining what still is outsized growth with the headwinds seemingly large. Just wondering how you can be confident that the current challenges you're facing aren't, in part, due to maybe saturation or cannibalization. And I guess that does end up pointing to China. And for China specifically, I think you mentioned healthy unit economics and double-digit restaurant margin. I was just wondering if, Rachel, maybe you could just talk about the specifics in terms of those sales, margins and returns that justify still that outsized growth in a very challenging China macro?

Let me first -- I'll take on the first question of global unit growth and hand over to Rachel to talk specifically about your question on China margins. Jeff, what we see is we see very strong cash and cash returns and I think what we've done both in the U.S. but also in the expansion plans that we have internationally. And I think what you see is -- what we're focused on is ensuring that we have reduced the cost of our stores and stores investment. We have done a very good job in bringing efficiency to that. And so as we expand, we see very good cash-on-cash returns. The reality is that the penetration we have in many of these markets and the headroom that we have internationally is very high. I mean I think, last time, we talked about the fact that, I think, we were just in 800 cities or -- in China and the opportunity for us in terms of counties is about over 3,000. So I think we're like -- we're not really penetrated as much as we could be in a place like China, which is why we have confidence. As we look at the real estate options we have, the proposals that are coming together, the kind of cash returns we get are very strong. That's what gives us confidence in terms of the global unit growth. Rachel, do you want to take the second part?

And if I would just add to that, when we look at the guidance that was given around our new store growth, particularly as it relates to China, that's really a very deliberate decision that we took to be able to increase the number of stores that we were opening in lower-tier cities and new counties where we see even stronger returns. So broadly, our returns are quite attractive, but they're even stronger in those lower-tier cities and the new counties. And as a result of that, that shift actually impacts our development pipeline. So there's a timing impact in terms of new store growth. So that's why we're at 12%, which we think is still a very strong growth and indicative of the opportunity that we see [Technical Difficulty]

Are you still connected? One moment. Can you hear us?

We can hear you.

And our next question comes from David Palmer with Evercore ISI.

First, I wanted to ask a clarification. You mentioned in your prepared remarks that you viewed some of the issues in China as transitory. I think you were speaking more about the competition than you were about the consumer with that comment. I think you mentioned something about a shakeout. I was wondering if you could double-click on that for us, what you're maybe seeing that would make you think that the environment there would be -- competitively would be a transitory one and they would get better that way. And then from a beverage innovation standpoint, I'm wondering how you're viewing the pipeline. Lavender happened, Spicy Lemonade has happened. You have 2 new ones coming up. How are you viewing the pipeline differently than -- and how are you thinking about the process of R&D differently today? And how are you evaluating what you've done?

I think we had some technical problems in hearing you, but let me just try and recap the question. Your first question was on competition in China and the comment around the shakeout that we are starting to see. And the second comment was on beverage pipeline. So let me start with the competition in China. I think the growth has taken place in the mass area of the China business, of the China overall coffee and tea segment is, one, where we see just intense price competition. We're choosing not to participate in that. We are a premium brand. We have built a business over 25 years with a great deal of competitive advantages. You can see that there. We have amazing partners in stores. We have stores that look distinctive. We have an end-to-end supply chain that, frankly, I would love to have in the U.S. And then we are steeped in coffee and the tradition of coffee in end to end as well as for the knowledge that we have in store. So we bring that to life very well in our business in China. At the same time, what you are seeing is the intense competition, particularly in the tea segment and it overlaps into coffee in the mass area, is one where you are seeing some of the shakeout happen in terms of the impact on people and how they can really sustain that kind of intensity. For us, our focus is on the premium end, and we're continuing to see that, right now, the headroom we have in China is large. I mean we're still at 13 cups per capita. Japan's at 280 and the U.S. is at 380. We know that, over time, as the Chinese consumer stops spending, what you're going to…

Our next question comes from Sharon Zackfia with William Blair.

I guess I'm trying to think through the sequencing of how we got here today. And it seems like in October and early November at the analyst meeting, demand was not a problem in the U.S., and I hear you saying that you have a lot of unmet demand. But can you kind of help us do a hindsight on how these issues have come to a crux so quickly, just 4 or 5 months hence since those kind of very ambitious goals that were given?

Thank you, Sharon. I think that if I look at the headwinds that we see in the market, in particular with the consumer and the pressures that they face, I think that they were sharper and more accelerated than what we expected. I think in hindsight, if I look at the situation in China, while long-term growth potential is sort of picking, we're committed to the long term in China. The recovery has been choppy. But I think what we've seen, particularly since that period is we've seen more intense price competition than what we expected. None of that takes away for the long term, but it's clear that what we had this quarter was tough.

And our next question comes from Peter Saleh with BTIG.

Great. I did want to ask about the Siren System. This was the focal point of the Investor Day a couple of years ago, and it seemed like it was put on the back burner for a little while, but now it seems like you're talking more bullish about this system going forward. So can you just give us an update? I think last we heard, it was going to be rolled out to less than 10% of the stores this year. What is the strategy now? And how does this help solve some of the issues you have? It sounds like some of the issues that you have are more in the supply chain and not necessarily within the four walls of the stores.

Peter, just to respond to your question, first of all, the Siren System was never put on the back burner. In fact, we're on track to having the Siren System installed in less than 10% of the stores, much as we committed. So it's on track. What we've added in here, though, is the underlying processes to ensure that we can reduce the wait time in the store, inside the four walls of the store. And that's what those processes are intended to do in the U.S. And so that's what the acceleration of the processes are that we have been testing. What we provide is a base on which we will continue to implement the overall Siren Systems that we showcased to you in the September Analyst Day when you were here with us and we talked to it.

Our next question comes from Lauren Silberman with Deutsche Bank.

One quick -- a follow-up and then a question. First, can you just talk about the cadence of U.S. comp throughout the quarter? I know you mentioned lavender was extremely successful. It doesn't seem to be showing up in the comp just given the commentary on the exit rate. So just help us understand the performance of new products and whether that's driving incremental customers you're targeting. And then just a quick one on like loyalty. It looks like active Rewards members declined quarter-over-quarter, which is very rare. Can you just talk about what you're seeing there given the commentary on the strength of the core customer?

Do you want to take that one, Rachel?

Sure. Yes. Thank you, Lauren. I'll start with the comp and what I spoke about in my prepared remarks about the exit rate. And lavender was quite successful for us. As you heard in Laxman's prepared remarks, what we are encouraged by is that lavender both to what our customers, particularly Gen Z and Millennial customers, are asking about, which is more new more often and a broader offering, so offering, meaning coffee, non-coffee, food, healthier choices. And so we hit squarely with that with lavender by having particularly our most popular offering in lavender was the Iced Lavender Matcha Latte and so that shows that when we innovate well, we exceed our own expectations. That was later in the quarter. So it did do something for us in terms of driving customers into the afternoon. Largely, we saw that platform resonate well in the afternoon with our customers. The Latte, we'll tend to do more in the morning, but broadly, lavender, a hit in the afternoon. So we see that, that overall offering and how we're trying to address the customer -- more occasional customer with that worked well. But what I would say is that it was later in the quarter. We've got more opportunities coming going forward. And as a result of that, our exit rate in the quarter still reflected continued headwinds, which we're reflecting in our guidance for the back half of the year. What we're expecting with the plans that we've outlined today will help us counterbalance some of those headwinds, particularly as we see those actions start to take place. So I think it's important to think about there are consumer headwinds in there. Our plans will counterbalance that. And as we go after some of those challenges, I think the other thing to remember is that we are coming with a position of strength as it relates to the efficiencies around our Triple Shot as well as the growth we have in new stores and the strength we're seeing in our portfolio overall. We have a very strong portfolio, a profitable portfolio that will help us, and our brand is strong. So we look at all of that, and that's how we're thinking about the exit rates of comp as well as what we're seeing for comps in the back half of the year. So hopefully, that provides a little more texture.

Brady, on loyalty?

Thank you, Lauren. You talked about the year-over-year increase but quarter-over-quarter declines of Starbucks Rewards members. And I think, just to be clear, that is in terms of 90-day frequency, so we still have a very large population of SR members. So it's about frequency of those customers. So I think consistent with the consumer pullback, the more occasional and very occasional SR members, those ones visited less frequently within the quarter. As a result of that, we saw fewer 90-day actives quarter-over-quarter. That said, the 6% growth year-over-year, we're continuing to grow SR. MOP grew in the quarter, so we still have a very active customer base setting record high for MOP. Delivery grew double digits in the quarter, and we see a very active digital customer. And I think as Laxman talked about with regard to how we're going to provide SR and traffic in the coming quarters, this is squarely aligned to this challenge. It's reactivating SR members, bringing them back and demonstrating value and driving frequency through the app and through SR. And we have a lot of great programs lined up [indiscernible] there.

Our next question comes from John Ivankoe with JPMorgan.

Two parts if I may. I heard the word misinformation and I think some improving maybe scores around that. So I just wanted to get a sense how much of an opportunity in terms of sales lost that you think correcting this information might actually mean for Starbucks. I don't think you've quantified that, but that would be helpful. And then secondly, regarding the Toyota Production System. I think I heard you said that it would help about a point. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that seems to be a fairly low number. And just talk about what kind of changes that would happen in the Toyota Production System. And to us, one of the opportunities would be having food ready when the customer orders it. In other words, using food warming cabinets would be particularly effective for both Mobile Order & Pay and drive-thru. So is that something that may be -- as part of Siren, that can be accelerated before the entire Siren System goes into place?

John, thank you for the question. I think on the question about misperception, misperception did have an impact on our business [indiscernible]. We haven't been -- we don't have a quantification for that. But what we do know is that our brand equity, the stores and the investment involved in the brand have certainly helped spending with overall perception of our brand [ we spend every year ]. In terms of the [indiscernible] system, what we're doing first is we're tracking how [ we do with the week ], so how we essentially work with deployment in the store, how we handle what happens at peaks in terms of where people are deployed. How do we essentially [ process ] customers? And what you see is [indiscernible] there. I know we've given you a quantification of 1 percentage point. That is a conservative estimate because when it fully gets deployed and it fits, you would see even bigger improvements that happen. In regard to your question about the [ hot food, ] that is purely something suggesting and we're looking to accelerate. So it takes [indiscernible] to accelerate that with the work that we are doing.

And our next question comes from Andrew Charles with Cowen & Company.

I know you're committed, of course, to the tenets of the reinvention plan. But in light of the current environment and caution of U.S. and China consumer, can you level set the long-term earnings algorithm introduced November around guidance for 5% same-store sales and 15% plus EPS growth? Does that still apply to 2025 and beyond?

Andrew, thank you for your question. Everything we've seen, I know that we had a tough quarter. But everything we see in terms of the opportunities that lie ahead, as you look at the opportunities we have across [indiscernible], the innovation that we [ see ] in terms of the pipeline going forward [indiscernible] beyond. If you look at the productivity opportunities, the store count opportunities [indiscernible], we believe we'll be back [indiscernible]. And we see no change in the long-term outlook that we set earlier in this [ business ].

And the last question comes from David Tarantino with Baird.

My question is on the value strategy that you laid out and the need to check traffic or track traffic in a tough environment. But I'm just wondering how you balance that with protecting the long-term health of the brand. Starbucks has always been a very premium brand position and sort of training some of these occasional users to come in on discount might have some detrimental impact. So I'm just wondering how you balance those 2 things and the strategy that you have.

Thank you for your question. [indiscernible] and we have no intention of like going across the board and [indiscernible] what we are doing is we are [indiscernible] the fact that as [indiscernible] levels of [indiscernible] our brand overall right now [ that for what I can ] is still very strong [indiscernible]. So we feel very good about that. And this is more about how we [ move ] and how we [ manage ] customers, particularly those that don't [indiscernible] that is what we intend to do.

[indiscernible] transactions [indiscernible] everything, the work [indiscernible] in an integrated way around product [indiscernible] as well as what our customers can get in the app to [indiscernible]

That was our last question. I'll now turn the call over to Laxman Narasimhan for closing remarks.

Thank you for joining us. We had a tough quarter, but we have a clear action plan that the management team and I are [indiscernible] thank you for joining us, and we appreciate the time you're taking this afternoon.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. All parties may disconnect. Have a good day.