Do Price Hikes Bode Ill for Starbucks Results?

Perking for coffee giant Starbucks (SBUX) are its fiscal first quarter 2010 earnings, due to be reported Wednesday after the bell. All eyes are on the company's same-store sales, whose story over the past 12 months has been along the lines of "hey, we're not declining nearly as much as last year at this time!" The last quarter in which Starbucks experienced same-store sales growth was the first fiscal quarter of 2009, the three months ended Dec. 31, 2007.