Curtain Call for Starbucks Corp. (SBUX)

Shareholders and Wall Street have lost faith in Starbucks Corporation  (Public, NASDAQ:SBUX) after forecasting its first annual profit decline in eight years.  After Hours shares fell 10% and the last trade was at $15.94.  Tomorrow should be a fun one, the dream is over.

CEO Howard Schultz said the "economic environment is the weakest in the companies history", and California stores are taking a big hit. They plan to close 100 stores and get back to basics, now they just need to close around 1,000 more.

Profit in the year through September will probably trail the 87 cents a share the company posted last year, Starbucks said today in a statement. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated 97 cents a share for the year.

Second-quarter earnings were probably 15 cents a share, Starbucks said. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey estimated average profit of 21 cents.

Sales in stores open at least a 13 months were probably down in the ``mid-single-digit'' range on a percentage basis, hurt by lower sales in California and Florida. The states account for 32 percent of retail revenue and 31 percent of company-owned stores in the U.S., according to the statement. Consumers in those states ``have been especially impacted by the effects of the downturn in the housing market,'' the company said.

Restructuring charges and a write-off for closed stores and abandoned plans for new ones will reduce per-share earnings by 3 cents in the second quarter, Starbucks said.

The company will give details of its second-quarter earnings April 30, along with forecasts for the next three years ``as it realizes the expected benefits of its transformation initiatives,'' according to the statement.

Best of luck if you are still holding SBUX shares, it's only going to get worse.