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Starbucks sales rise for first quarter in two years
Starbucks recorded quarterly same-store growth for the first time in two years, marking a turnaround for the global coffee chain. In Q4, global comparable store sales increased by 1% and were mainly driven by a 1% increase in comparable transactions, surpassing Wall Street expectations of a 0.3% decline. “We’re a year into our ‘Back to Starbucks’ strategy, and it’s clear that our turnaround is taking hold,” Starbucks chairman and CEO, Brian Niccol, said. “Our return to global comp growth and the momentum we’re building give me confidence we’re on the right path to deliver the very best of Starbucks for our customers, partners and shareholders.” The greatest quarterly growth was in international markets, where same-store sales rose by 3% while North America and the U.S. same-store sales remained flat. Despite the quarterly growth, same-store sales for Starbucks fell by 1%, driven by a 2% decline in comparable sales transactions for the full year. However, chief financial officer Cathy Smith warned shareholders not to celebrate this success too early. “We know this continues to be a multi-year turnaround,” she said. “We remain focused on driving our topline while managing the costs that are within our control
Food
Result and PE investment put fizz back into KDP shares
Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) shares rose after the North American beverage company reported improved results for the third quarter of the 2025 financial year (Q3 FY25), upgraded its sales guidance and announced a private equity (PE) capital injection. The company said net income increased 7.5% to US$662 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose 8.9% to 49 cents on net sales, which grew 10.7% to $4.31 billion in the three months ended 30 September 2025. Sales growth was driven by volume/mix growth of 6.4% and favourable net price realisation of 4.2% while income growth was driven by sales growth and productivity savings, partially offset by inflation. For the first nine months of FY25, diluted EPS grew 9.5% to $1.27 on net sales, which rose 7.3% to $12.1 billion. KDP revised its FY25 constant currency net sales growth guidance to the high-single-digit percentage range from the mid-single-digit growth outlook given previously but left the adjusted diluted EPS growth forecast unchanged at the high-single-digit range. "We are pleased with our third quarter results, which demonstrated robust growth in U.S. Refreshment Beverages and encouraging sequential progress in U.S. Coffee.” CEO Tim Cofer said in a news release.
Food
Coca-Cola sticks by guidance as Q3 earnings surge
The Coca-Cola Company has retained its full-year revenue and profit forecasts after announcing a 30% increase in earnings for the third quarter of the 2025 financial year (Q3 FY25) despite challenging operating conditions. The world’s biggest beverage company said net income in the three months ending 26 September 2025 was US$3.696 billion (A$5.69 billion) compared with $2.848 billion in the previous corresponding period (pcp). Diluted earnings per share (EPS) also jumped 30% to 86 cents on net operating revenue, which grew 5% to $12.455 billion due to 6% growth in the price mix and as concentrate sales were flat. Operating income climbed 59% to $3.982 billion, helped by a 94% plunge in other operating charges as a large write-off related to an acquisition in the pcp dropped out. Over the first nine months, net income jumped 28% to $10.836 billion and diluted EPS rose 29% to $2.51 on net revenue, which grew 2% $36.119 billion.Source: Coca-Cola “While the overall environment has continued to be challenging, we’ve stayed flexible — adapting plans where needed and investing for growth,” Chairman and CEO James Quincey said in an earnings release. He said Coca-Cola was gaining ground and strengthening its leadership posi
Food
Molson Coors to lay off 9% of workforce in the Americas
Canadian-American beer maker Molson Coors Beverage Company has announced plans to cut 9% of its salaried workforce in the Americas. The news came on Monday, with the cuts totalling around 400 jobs by the end of this year, as part of a restructuring plan. The focus of the plan is to reinvest in its core categories of beer, non-alcoholic beverages and energy drinks. U.S. alcohol companies are broadly facing uncertainties in the current market, with Trump administration tariffs and inflation impacting business stability and growth. Molson Coors, which produces beer locally at breweries in Colorado and is home to big-name beer brands such as Coors and Miller, had a total of 16,800 employees globally as of December 2024, according to its annual report.
Food
Market finds GYG buyback hard to swallow
Analysts have expressed surprise at the decision of Guzman Y Gomez (GYG) to mount a share buyback, and some believe the shares are still overvalued despite a large fall in the price since February. The Mexican fast-food retailer announced it would repurchase up to $100 million of its own shares when it provided a trading update for the first quarter of the 2026 financial year (Q1 2026) on 9 October. In an ASX announcement GYG said the decision reflected its robust balance sheet and cash generation, represented an efficient use of capital, and was in the best interests of shareholders. But some analysts queried the decision, with Morningstar equity analyst Johannes Faul labelling it “perplexing”. He said the company issued $200 million of equity at $22 per share 15 months ago, and it now intends to buy back $100 million with the share price above $26. “It's a small buyback, but selling low and buying high does not create value for shareholders,” Faul said in a research note. A similar note was struck by RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Toner, who said although the buyback was relatively small, it was also unexpected in the context of a significant and somewhat capital-intensive multi-year growth pipeline. M

Food
Nestle to cut 16k jobs, new CEO vows to restore glory
In an attempt to cut costs and win back investor confidence, Nestlé, the world's largest packaged food company - owner of KitKat and Nescafé - plans to slash 16,000 jobs, close to 6% of its global workforce, over the next 24 months. Job cuts by the Swiss-headquartered multinational, which also owns consumer goods brands including Häagen-Dazs ice-cream, Nespresso coffee capsules and Purina cat food, are expected to include 12,000 white-collar professionals and 4,000 people in its manufacturing and supply chain. While the company has not provided details about the scale of job losses in individual countries, it said it wanted to increase efficiencies across the group, including automating more of its work processes. Under investor pressure to bolster growth and reduce debt, new CEO Philipp Navratil told the market on Thursday that Nestle is now seeking savings of 3 billion Swiss francs by 2027, up from a previous target of 2.5 billion francs. “The world is changing and Nestlé needs to change faster,” said Navratil, who last month replaced former CEO Laurent Freixe after he was fired for failing to disclose a romantic relationship with a subordinate. “This will include making hard but necessary decisions to reduce head
Food
Domino's pizza exceeds expectations, shares up 3.9%
Domino's Pizza surpassed expectations for quarterly profit and United States same-store sales. This was driven by promotions and new menu items as consumers tighten their budgets in a time of economic uncertainty. “In the U.S., we drove positive order counts behind our Best Deal Ever promotion and stuffed-crust pizza product innovation for the third quarter,” Domino’s CEO Russell Weiner said. “Seeing our strategy being executed at such a high level gives me the confidence that we will continue to win and take QSR pizza market share around the world in 2025 and beyond. “We have never had more tools to drive long-term value creation for our franchisees and shareholders.” The pizza giant posted earnings per share of US$4.08, exceeding analyst expectations of US$3.96. Revenue also beat forecasts, coming in at US$1.15 billion. The company saw global retail sales rise by 6.3%, when excluding foreign currency impact, with 214 stores being opened during Q3 2025. Domino's revenues also grew 6.2% year-over-year, with the company attributing this to higher supply chain revenues and higher U.S. franchise royalties and fees and advertising revenue. While U.S. same-store sales grew 5.2%, international same-store sales on
Food
PepsiCo beats estimates, names new CFO
PepsiCo beat estimates of revenue and earnings per share last quarter amid sales growth in its international food businesses and named Walmart United States finance head Steve Schmitt as Chief Financial officer (CFO). Revenue for the global food and beverage company was US$23.94 billion, up from $23.32 billion year-over-year, and higher than LSEG estimates of $23.83 billion. Earnings per share were $2.29, down from $2.31 but beating estimates of $2.26. “Our reported net revenue growth accelerated and reflects the resilience of our international business, improved momentum within North America Beverages and the benefits of our portfolio reshaping actions,” PepsiCo chair and CEO Ramon Laguarta said. “As we look ahead to the balance of this year and beyond, our top priorities are to accelerate growth and aggressively optimise our cost structure. To accomplish this, we are introducing a strong pipeline of innovation to accelerate portfolio transformation, continuously sharpening our price pack architecture to provide good value to consumers, and right sizing our entire cost base to help fund our activities.” Operating profit was $3.57 billion last quarter, down from $3.87 billion. PepsiCo’s cost of sales grew to $11.
Food
Albanese courts LuLu in Coles-Woolies shake-up
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave shareholders in the country’s two ASX-listed supermarket giants, Coles (ASX: COL) and Woolworths (ASX: WOW), a rude wake-up call after his recent political broadside that could crack open their cosy and longstanding duopoly over the sector. With market shares of 38% and 29% respectively, Woolworths and Coles hold a collective market share of around 67% of total supermarket sales nationally. However, that market share appears to be under threat due to both reputational damage and the potential entrée of new global players within Australia’s supermarket landscape.On the nose with shoppersIn the wake of recent revelations that see Coles and Woolworths sharing equal top spot in Roy Morgan’s survey of Australia’s most distrusted brands, Albanese’s invitation to Indian-origin UAE billionaire Yusuff Ali to bring his LuLu Hypermarkets to Australia couldn’t have come at a worse time. Albanese’s comments follow a review by the competition watchdog in March, which found there was "limited incentive" for Coles and Woolworths to compete on price because of their market dominance. However, both Coles and Woolworths have denied accusations of price gouging. What also bodes well for p