Shares of Starbucks Corp. inched higher after hours Tuesday after the coffee chain reported quarterly results that beat expectations, as it tries to revive sales following a year marked by cautious consumers.

Operating margin contracted to 11.9% of sales from 15.7% in the prior year, primarily driven by deleverage and investments in support of the Back to Starbucks initiative, including store partner wages,

Starbucks reported a smaller-than-expected fall in first-quarter comparable sales on Tuesday, in early signs of the struggling coffee chain benefiting from CEO Brian Niccol's efforts to revive demand.

Quarterly profit and same-store sales decline, but CEO Brian Niccol cites “positive response” to chain’s efforts to woo back customers.