NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Starbucks Corp. shares rose almost 3% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the coffeehouse chain reported better-than-expected third-fiscal-quarter profit and sales. Net income in the quarter ended June 28 rose to $626.7 million, or 41 cents a share, from $512.6 million, or 34 cents, a year earlier. Excluding nonrecurring items, the company said it reported profit of 42 cents a share. That topped the 41-cent FactSet consensus. Total revenue rose 18% to $4.88 billion, exceeding the FactSet consensus of $4.87 billion. Starbucks cut its fourth-quarter profit outlook to reflect the acquisition of Starbucks Japan and the redemption of debt. Excluding those items, the company kept its fourth-quarter profit outlook at 42 or 43 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had an average estimate of 43 cents a share. Starbucks also said it plans to buy back an additional 50 million shares on top of the 11 million shares that remain available for purchase under an existing authorization. It also inked a deal with PepsiCo Inc. for the sale of Starbucks ready-to-drink coffee and energy drinks in Latin America.
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