Starbucks misses quarterly sales estimates as China weakness weighs

(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp missed Wall Street expectations for quarterly comparable sales on Thursday, as persistent weakness in the coffee chain's China business eclipsed strong sales in the North American market.

While China has largely abandoned its zero-COVID policy and began reopening in early December, customer traffic at Starbucks still remained weak owing to widespread COVID-19 outbreaks in the country.

That resulted in a 29% fall in China comparable sales for Starbucks in its first fiscal quarter ended Jan. 1, pulling total international comparable sales down 13%.

The Seattle, Washington-based company reported a 10% jump in comparable sales in North America, as a younger and wealthier coffee-loving crowd shrugged off inflationary pressures and continued to order coffees, cold drinks as well as food item add-ons.

Global comparable sales at Starbucks rose 5%, compared with analysts' average estimate of a 6.75% rise, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru and Hilary Russ in New York; Editing by Josie Kao)