Jim Cramer says he’s confident on Starbucks in the long-term

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday explained why he’s positive on Starbucks for the long term, even as the coffee chain reported a same-store sales decline that led to a choppy day of trading.

“If Brian Niccol keeps delivering on the turnaround front, I bet Starbucks and its shareholders will be huge winners,” he said. “That’s still my expectation here, and I feel even better about it tonight than I did last night before the company reported.”

Starbucks posted a revenue beat but didn’t meet earnings estimates. The coffee company saw same-store sales fall for the sixth consecutive quarter, but CEO Brian Niccol said its turnaround strategy is ahead of schedule. After starting the day up big, shares of Starbucks plunged during the session but largely managed to rebound and finish down 0.22%.

While Cramer said Starbucks’ headline numbers were disappointing, he was encouraged by the overall quarter. He attributed some of the earnings miss to one-off items like a tax charge and an expensive leadership meeting. While global same-store sales were weak, Cramer pointed out that there was improvement in certain regions, like North America and China.

Cramer expressed support for Niccol and noted that he was able to turn business around at Chipotle when he served as the CEO for the fast casual restaurant chain. Cramer was pleased with Niccol’s earnings remarks about promising results from recent trials of Starbucks’ “Green Apron Service” operating model. The new program aims to improve customers’ in-store experience with friendlier customer service and personal touches like sharpie drawings on cups. Niccol said Starbucks is accelerating the rollout of the program after the trials’ success.

To Cramer, Starbucks’ most important task is to improve its core domestic business — and the recent quarter suggests that is starting to happen, he said.

“Don’t worry about these short-term swings, which were kind of a microcosm of the stock’s whole first year under Niccol’s leadership,” he said. “Focus on what matters: the long-term turnaround plan, which is going well ahead of schedule.”

Starbucks did not immediately respond to request for comment.