SEATTLE, July 30 -- For most of the past two years, investors holding Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) were receiving a promise more than a result. The promise was Brian Niccol, the turnaround architect who rebuilt Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG) after its food safety collapse, and the thesis he carried to the coffee chain when he arrived as chief executive in September 2024. On Tuesday, the numbers began to confirm what the thesis had been arguing all along.

Starbucks reported fiscal third-quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates and raised its full-year fiscal 2026 guidance for both revenue and earnings, according to the company's earnings release published after U.S. markets closed. SBUX climbed in after-hours trading in one of the st...