Algorithm Junior Trading for you today. It will be interesting for you. Are you going to stick around with us, Katrina Dudley? I want to check on Starbucks shares this morning because they are nearing an all-time high. They reported a strong second quarter. Sales shares are up almost, up now more than 4%. Again, it is a turnaround and question of the consumer. Clearly, there is still healthy spending. We've seen that in the macro data. Starbucks shares up 4%. Romaine Bostick and Brian Niccol join us now.
Welcome to our audiences across our Bloomberg platforms worldwide, television, radio, our partnership with you too. Joined now by the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol, fresh off the company's most recently quarterly report, 7.1%. That is a huge turnaround from how this company had been performing in the years passed. When you look at that growth in the most recent quarter, was that based on transactions, volume in the store, or higher prices?
Yeah, well, good morning, Romaine. We had a terrific quarter around the world, and, yes, the U.S. market definitely stood out for its performance. As you mentioned, we did 7.1% in comp in sales, and the thing that is exciting, it was driven by transactions, so a little over 4%, which basically means more people were coming into Starbucks every day. And, you know, what I think that really speaks to is the right menu offerings, the right service experience, and then, obviously, having an entire environment where people felt like they could actually experience the coffee in the moment, for the drink in the moment that they wanted to have in their local community.
When you look at the momentum over the last quarters, 7% in the most recent fiscal quarter, Q1 I think it was 4%, there are questions about the full year guidance you get, which seems to suggest a potential slowdown in the second half of the year. 5% comp sales growth in terms of consolidated revenue, guided to flat. What is going on?
If you look at the first half of the year, we ended up being about a 5%, and when we look at the back half of the year, we took up our guidance from three or better to five or better to finish the full year. And the good news is we had great momentum in the second quarter. That momentum has continued into April, and we will see how it plays out throughout the year. Obviously, there is a lot of different things happening in the world right now that we want to make sure we are prepared to handle, and we do not want to get ahead of ourselves, but we are optimistic about what the business can deliver and we are optimistic about where Starbucks goes from here. You know, on the guidance, obviously, the good news is we think we've got the right plans to drive the top line, we got the right plans to work the cost side of things so we can see it flow through, so we are excited about where we are.
Have you seen any of that because of what is going on with regards to higher energy prices, to inflation?
We have not seen that effect, the consumer behavior at Starbucks. The thing we are excited about is our sales growth and transaction growth was supported by just about every income cohort. We had growth in about every cohort. I talked about this a little bit in the call, which I think is something to remember, which is when Starbucks does the experience right, our coffeehouse leaders, baristas, does a moment of connection, that craft, experience, the customization our customers would like at the speed they want. People come back saying that was well worth it. I think the fact that we can give a little touch of luxury, regardless where you fall on the income scale, people appreciate it. Whether it feels like a splurge or an affordable, premium experience. In both cases, people are walking away saying, you know what, that was well worth it. I want to do that again.
When you came into the job late 2024, you set out to revamp the stores, the menu and the customer experience. You've talked in the past about creating progress on both metrics, largely around the customer experience, etc. Are you meeting those targets?
We have made tremendous progress. You are referring to what we call our Grow Report, where it has five key metrics and our stores are measured on those five key metrics. What I love about it, it is very simple and straightforward. Our teams know what they are accountable for, and that has been driven around great customer service, make sure you are stocked, staffed, it makes you do with the right speed, make sure everything is food safe, and that you give people the experience they want. They ultimately call that a five-shot scorecard. We saw a 30-point improvement among our stores, getting four shots or better, and the reason that is important, once you get above 3.5 shots, we see that play out in sales performance. So the fact that we have made such tremendous progress is really exciting. And the thing that I love is, what is most important about that scorecard, it gives us clear feedback to where we are doing it right, and where we have yet to be better. And that really is going to be the key source of how we coach and grow in our stores going forward.
