Coffee giant Starbucks’ global sales continue to decline amid Israel boycotts

U.S.-based global coffee chain Starbucks continues to face shrinking sales, with its latest financial results revealing a 4% drop in global comparable store sales for the October-December 2024 period, the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

This marked a persistent downward trend linked, in part, to ongoing boycotts targeting companies perceived as affiliated with Israel amid its conflict in Gaza.

Fiscal year 2025 began in October 2024 in Starbucks’ financial calendar, as the company’s comparable store sales declined by 4% in North America, while its sales in China decreased by 6%.

Starbucks’ revenue was $9.4 billion for the three months ended Dec. 29, 2024, unchanged compared to the same period of the previous year.

The company’s earnings per share decreased by 23% to $0.69 compared to the same period of 2023. The Seattle-based coffee chain opened 377 net new stores over the same period, reaching 40,576 stores.

Boycotts take a toll on Starbucks’ global sales

Starbucks, one of the companies facing protests and boycott campaigns over Israel’s attacks on Gaza, has seen its financial results negatively impacted over the past four quarters.

The coffee chain lowered its annual sales forecast for the October-December 2023 period, partly due to declining sales in its Middle Eastern stores.

The company’s revenue dropped by 2% in the January-March period last year, while global sales fell by 4%, marking the first decline since late 2020.

Starbucks also reported that its global sales declined by 3% in April-June 2023 and by 7% in July-September 2023.