STARBUCKS CORP
For the period ended Sep 28, 2025. Filed Nov 14, 2025.
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FY2025 · Filed Nov 14, 2025
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Item 8. Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the shareholders and the Board of Directors of Starbucks Corporation
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Starbucks Corporation and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of September 28, 2025, and September 29, 2024, the related consolidated statements of earnings, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended September 28, 2025, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of September 28, 2025, and September 29, 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended September 28, 2025, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of September 28, 2025, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated November 14, 2025, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the Audit and Compliance Committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Goodwill Impairment Assessments for China Reporting Unit – Refer to Note 1 and Note 8 to the financial statements
Critical Audit Matter Description
The Company’s goodwill for its China reporting unit within the international segment is tested annually for impairment during the third quarter of each year, and more frequently if events and circumstances indicate that the assets might be impaired. The Company’s evaluation of goodwill for impairment involves comparing the estimated fair value of a reporting unit to its carrying value. The estimated fair value of a reporting unit is determined using both income and market approaches.
The income approach is based on discounted future cash flows and requires management to make assumptions and to apply judgment when estimating future cash flows and asset fair values, including projected revenue growth, forecasted operating expenses, and the selection of an appropriate discount rate. The market approach is based on comparable company valuation multiples and requires an estimate of those multiples derived from comparable publicly traded companies to the reporting unit. Changes in these estimates and assumptions could have a significant impact on either the fair value, the amount of any goodwill impairment charge, if any, or both.
The goodwill balance was $3,368.9 million as of September 28, 2025, of which $2,842.6 million was allocated to the international segment, inclusive of the China reporting unit. The fair value of the China reporting unit was greater than its carrying value as of the measurement date, and as a result, management did not record an impairment charge related to the reporting unit goodwill.
We identified the goodwill impairment assessment of the China reporting unit as a critical audit matter because of the significant estimates and assumptions management made to determine the fair value. The audit of these estimates and assumptions required a high degree of auditor judgment when performing audit procedures to evaluate the reasonableness of management’s estimates and assumptions related to revenue and expense projections, and the selection of significant valuation assumptions such as comparable company valuation multiples and discount rates. The audit also required an increased extent of effort, including the need to involve our fair value specialists.
How the Critical Matter Was Addressed in the Audit
Our audit procedures related to revenue and expense projections and the selection of significant valuation assumptions, such as comparable company valuation multiples and discount rates, for the China reporting unit included the following:
We tested the effectiveness of controls over management’s goodwill impairment evaluation, including the determination of the fair value of the China reporting unit, such as controls related to management’s forecasts and the selection of the discount rate and valuation multiples used.
We inquired of senior executives of the Company to corroborate strategic plans for growth.
We evaluated management’s ability to accurately forecast by comparing actual results to management’s historical forecasts.
We performed a sensitivity analysis of the revenue growth rate, forecasted operating expenses, and discount rates, which included their impact on cash flows.
We evaluated the reasonableness of management’s forecasts by comparing the forecasts to (1) historical results, (2) internal communications amongst management and the Board of Directors, (3) inquiry with personnel outside of finance and accounting, and (4) forecasted information included in analyst and industry reports relevant to the China reporting unit.
With the assistance of our fair value specialists, we evaluated (1) the valuation methodologies used, (2) the comparable company multiples selected by management, and (3) the discount rate used in determining the present value of the expected cash flows.
We considered the impact of trends in the industry and current macroeconomic factors on management’s forecasts.
/s/DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP
Seattle, Washington
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 1987.
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