Starbucks Corp. has closed more than half of its mainland China locations because of a viral outbreak that has disrupted lives in the coffee chain's most important growth market.
The news cast gloom over what otherwise would have been an upbeat earnings report. Same-store sales, an important gauge of success for restaurant chains, rose 5 percent in the fiscal first quarter that ended Dec. 29, outpacing the 4.6 percent average estimate compiled by Consensus Metrix.
The company maintained its 2020 forecast but said it doesn't include the impact of temporarily closing so many stores because it can't yet calculate it.