Starbucks Cuts Profit Forecast: Hot Trends

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Popular searches on the Internet include Starbucks (SBUX) after the coffee chain cut its fourth-quarter profit forecast to below estimates.

The company lowered its forecast to as much as 45 cents a share, compared to its previous forecast of 47 cents. Analysts had been looking for an average of 48 cents a share.

Starbucks attributed the decline to global economic weakness and a slowdown in store visits in the United States. The company said store traffic in the U.S. began to decline in June and continued into July, feeding concerns that Americans are continuing to cut discretionary spending.

Net income for the fiscal third quarter rose 19% to $333.1 million, or 43 cents ar share, but still missed analysts' estimates of 45 cents.

---

Twitter is trending after the most recent Instagram app update, when Twitter removed Instagram's access to its API.

This means Instagram users can no longer search for friends via their Twitter contacts. Instagram users had been able to select "Twitter friend" under the "Find friends" option. Now, a message pops up for users who attempt to do so indicating, "Twitter no longer allows its users to access this information in Instagram via the Twitter API." Users can still post photos to Twitter via the photo-sharing app.

The moves comes after Twitter product team director Michael Sippey indicated in a June 2012 blog post that the micro-blogging site would be getting stricter with how its API is used.

Instagram was recently acquired by Twitter competitor Facebook (FB).

---

Merck (MRK) is another popular search. The pharmaceutical company reported second-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.05 a share, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01. The company's earnings were boosted by sales of vaccines, HIV treatments and diabetes drugs like Janumet and Januvia.

Merck's sales rose 1% to $12.31 billion, also beating estimates of $12.15 billion. Excluding the negative impact from the currency exchange and the stronger dollar, worldwide sales rose 5%.

The U.S. patent on Merck's biggest product, asthma drug Singulair, expires next month which will allow for cheaper generic versions of the drug that will likely impact the company's results going forward. The company reaffirmed earnings of $3.75 to $3.85 a share for the full year, excluding items.

---

The chatter on Main Street (a.k.a. Google, Yahoo! and other search sites) is always of interest to investors on Wall Street. Thus, each day, TheStreet compiles the stories that are trending on the Web, and highlights the news that could make stocks move.

-- Written by Brittany Umar.

Brittany joined TheStreet.com TV in November 2006 after completing a degree in Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers College. Previously, Brittany interned at the local ABC affiliate in New York City WABC-TV 7 where she helped research and produce On Your Side, a popular consumer advocacy segment.