Normally, coffee giant Starbucks (SBUX, Financial) enters the fall season with the help of its popular Pumpkin Spice Latte; however, its fiscal fourth-quarter results are disappointing. It posted its results on Tuesday; organization revenues for the third quarter ending September 29 were below forecasts. This forced the organization to stop its fiscal 2025 financial predictions as the new head honcho and chairman/CEO Brian Niccol examined the strategies.

In the USA, the annual pumpkin spice latte and the newly launched iced apple crisp nondairy cream Chai could not air the foot traffic as same-store sales declined by 6%. These figures paint a worrying scenario of customer traffic as much as marketing and promotions have been stepped by smart apps and the Starbucks app. It gets worse overseas, especially in China, where Starbucks said it experienced a 14% drop in same-store sales. This decline is blamed on the reduction of consumption expenditure and rivalry from other less expensive types. Various operational difficulties are affecting Starbucks, according to Niccol in a video that was made public by the company. Hudson also said that staffing has to be increased, walking workflows improved, and the food menu, which he noted was quite extensive and 'overcomplicated,' needs to be optimized to further increase efficiency, especially during the morning rush.

Niccol also spoke of reducing the more frequent deployment of Starbucks Rewards promotions and instead emphasizing the brand's handcrafted beverages and coffee innovation. To entice them, it declared that revenue was $9.1 billion for the quarter, a 3% decline from the $9.4 billion estimated by analysts. Adjusted earnings per share were also down by 24.5% to 80 cents below the expected $1.03 per share. While the new leadership announces Starbucks' great earnings on October 30, how they will handle these brewing challenges is expected to be apparent.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.