Starbucks (SBUX) released its latest earnings report after closing bell, posting earnings of 46 cents per share and $5.37 billion in revenue for its first fiscal quarter of 2016. GAAP earnings were also 46 cents per share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 45 cents per share and $5.39 billion in revenue. In last year’s first quarter, the coffee chain posted earnings of 40 cents per share and $4.8 billion in revenue.

Starbucks sees strong comparable store growth

Channel Development revenues climbed 16% to $512.1 million, while the operating margin for the segment expanded 210 basis points. Americas revenues were $3.73 billion, while China and Asia Pacific revenues were $653.6 million. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region recorded $313 million in sales.

The company said strong holiday sales contributed to an 8% increase in comparable store sales on the back of a 4% increase in traffic. In the U.S. and the Americas, comparable sales climbed 9%. The China and Asia Pacific region saw a 5% increase in comparable sales with a 4% increase in traffic, while Asia, the Middle East and Africa saw a 1% increase in comparable store sales with a 1% traffic increase.

Expansion

Starbucks opened 528 net new stores during the quarter, including 281 in China and the Asia Pacific region and 79 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The coffee chain also served more than 23 million more customer occasions (compared to the previous year’s first quarter) over its global comparable store base with 18 million in the US.

It also saw a record $1.9 billion loaded onto Starbucks cards, adding that one in six American adults received one during the holiday shopping season. That’s an improvement from the previous year when one in seven American adults received one. Additionally, the company saw a 23% increase in membership in its My Starbucks Rewards program, which now has over 11 million active U.S. members.

Starbucks’ guidance disappoints