Starbucks Corp. shares rose Friday after the coffee chain's financial results exceeded Wall Street's expectations.
Starbucks shares were up about 1 percent after posting strong quarterly sales Thursday, showing that its customers largely shook off price increases.
Sales at U.S. cafes open at least 13 months — a measure of fundamental business strength — jumped 8 percent in the latest quarter, more than the 5.3 percent rise analysts expected.
Chief Financial Officer Troy Alstead told Reuters that menu price increases accounted for the bigger part of the rise in spending, but also that customers were buying more food.
Starbucks shares, which also have benefited from a massive restructuring that shuttered more than 900 cafes and slashed costs, are up 60 percent from a year ago.
Wall Street also is enthusiastic about Starbucks' new partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc, whose popular Keurig machines control about 80 percent of the fast-growing North American single-serve brewing segment.
The companies plan to begin selling Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea for Keurig machines at wholesale clubs, drugstores and supermarkets in North America this autumn, in time for the important winter holiday season.
Alstead said Starbucks has locked in coffee prices for the coming fiscal year as the market for beans remains volatile.