Second-quarter revenue and profit missed expectations, and shares fell over 6%.

Starbucks Corp (SBUX) missed Wall Street expectations on both revenue and profit in its fiscal second quarter, sending shares down 6.4% in after-hours trading Tuesday and fueling doubts about how soon its new turnaround strategy will deliver results.

The coffee chain is struggling to reignite growth amid intense competition from rival cafes and a pullback in consumer discretionary spending. It now faces pressure from U.S. tariffs, which will, among other things, increase the costs of coffee bean imports.

"Our financial results don't yet reflect our progress, but we have real momentum with our 'Back to Starbucks' plan," CEO Brian Niccol said.

After four quarters of de-growth, sales rose 2% to $8.76 billion for the quarter ended March 30. The figure was, however, lower than analyst expectations of $8.82 billion from LSEG/Reuters.

Same-store sales declined 1% compared with expectations of a 0.26% fall, although international comparable sales rose 2% versus an expected 1.13% drop.

Adjusted profit declined for a fifth straight quarter to $0.41, also below the consensus estimate of $0.48.

Niccol said Starbucks will invest more in staffing and less in equipment, including an automation system it previously touted, and focus on improving customer experience at its cafes.

The chain will increase staff in 1,500 to 2,000 U.S. cafes by next month.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment plummeted to 'extremely bearish' from 'neutral' a day prior.

SBUX sentiment and message volume as of April 29 | Source: Stocktwits

Users noted the grim prospects, saying that consumers can't afford expensive coffee anymore and criticized Niccol's statement that they should ignore EPS and margins for now.

Starbucks has been shaking things up.

In October, it hired Niccol from Chipotle Mexican Grill and soon after withdrew its fiscal 2025 outlook while revealing the initial steps of its turnaround strategy.

As part of that effort, Starbucks announced in late February that it would eliminate 1,100 corporate jobs and several hundred open positions.

As of its last closing price, Starbucks shares were down 7% year to date.

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