by Calculated Risk on 8/31/2006 04:13:00 PM

Looking forward to Starbucks' results, analysts thought same store sales of 4% would be a negative and 6%+ a positive. So naturally Starbucks reports:

On a comparable store sales basis (stores open for at least 13 months), sales at Company-operated stores increased five percent for the four weeks ended August 27, 2006, as compared to the same four-week period in fiscal 2005.

Other retailers reported mixed results too (hat tip Barry Ritholtz): Back-to-school sales mediocre

According to sales tracker First Call, 50 percent of the 52 retailers it tracks beat their sales estimates and 48 percent missed. Total August comparable sales were up 3.7 percent. The firm had forecast sales to increase 3.5 percent, modestly lower than the 3.6 percent increase for the same period a year ago.

"We haven't yet seen a significant implosion in sales," said Perkins.