Starbucks, Priceline.com: After-Hours Trading

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Starbucks (SBUX) jumped in late trades on Thursday after the coffee purveyor beat Wall Street's profit view by a penny in its latest quarter, lifted its earnings outlook for 2013, and hiked its quarterly dividend by more than 20%.

The Seattle-based company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $359 million, or 46 cents a share, on revenue of $3.36 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was for a profit of 45 cents a share on revenue of $3.38 billion in the quarter.

For fiscal 2013, Starbucks lifted its forecast to earnings of $2.06 to $2.15 a share, surrounding the current consensus estimate of $2.13 a share.

The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 21 cents a share, payable on Nov. 30 to shareholders of record on Nov. 10. That payout is a boost of 24% from its prior quarterly dividend of 17 cents a share.

"Our Q4 and overall 2012 fiscal year performance demonstrates the strength of our business and brand," said Howard Schultz, the compay's chairman, president and CEO, in a press release. "The resiliency and relevance of our U.S. retail business, acceleration of the Channel Development business and expansion in Asia all contributed significantly to our strong results. I am incredibly proud of our 200,000 Starbucks partners around the world who have contributed to the success of the company and I am optimistic about achieving our aspirations for the future."

Starbucks also revved up its expansion plans, setting a target to open about 1,300 stores on a net basis in fiscal 2013, which would constitute 22% growth over fiscal 2012. The company kept a target to open 600 new stores in the Americas, and accelerated its plans for the China/Asia Pacific region to 600 new stores with slightly more than half of those openings expected in China.

The stock was last quoted at $49.70, up 6.6%, on volume of more than 1.4 million, according to Nasdaq.com.

Priceline.com

Shares of Priceline.com (PCLN) were surging after the online travel reservation company reported a much better than anticipated quarterly profit.

The Norwalk, Conn.-based company said it earned $638 million, or $12.40 a share, on a non-GAAP basis in the third quarter on revenue of $1.71 billion. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was for a profit of $11.81 a share on revenue of $1.65 billion in the quarter.

Gross travel bookings totaled $7.8 billion for the three-month period, up 25.2% from last year.

1 2 Next › Last »