“However, to provide additional insights, we believe our results for the balance of the year will be significantly pressured with heavier pressure in Q3.”

In context

“nches in our ready-to-drink business, including Starbucks BAYA Energy in the U.S. and new chilled cup offerings in our international markets. The segment's operating margin was 42.7% in Q2, down 400 basis points from the prior year, primarily due to business mix shift driven by growth in the Global Coffee Alliance. Moving on to our guidance for the balance of our fiscal '22 year. Given the uncertainty around further mobility restrictions and lockdowns in China resulting from the government's strict zero-COVID policies as well as increasing inflationary headwinds, it's become increasingly difficult for us to predict the back half of the year with reasonable accuracy. Thus, as Howard mentioned, we believe the only responsible thing to do is to spend guidance for balance of this fiscal year. However, to provide additional insights, we believe our results for the balance of the year will be significantly pressured with heavier pressure in Q3. From a capital allocation perspective, although we suspended share repurchases for the balance of the fiscal year, we've returned more than $5 billion between share repurchases and our quarterly dividend during the first half of our fiscal year. We expect share repurchases made earlier in the year to contribute at least 1% to our FY '22 EPS growth. We will provide a comprehensive update on our business outlook and our capital allocation commitments for FY '23 and beyond at our Investor Day in September. However, as Howard mentioned, we are confident the investments we are making in our partners, our stores and our brand will deliver significant returns in excess of historical levels, resulting in accelerated long-term growth. To summarize, the 2 key takeaways from my prepared remarks toda”