Investors sent Starbucks shares up quickly after it posted a fourth-quarter profit of $150 million,or 20 cents a share, better than analysts had expected and a vast improvement from its $5.4 million profit during the fourth quarter last year.

It had a 4 percent drop in sales, to $2.4 billion, which it more than made up for with $580 million in annualized cost cuts. That's $30 million better than it had promised to Wall Street. For the quarter, operating expenses were down 11 percent to $2.3 billion.

Starbucks also saw its seventh consecutive quarter of same-store sales declines, but its 1 percent drop was the least severe drop in all those quarters -- and better than the 3 percent decline that many analysts expected. It's an improvement from the 5 percent drop last quarter and the 7 percent decline during the fourth quarter a year ago.

The quarter included $53 million in restructuring charges, compared with $99 million in the fourth quarter last year. Without the charges, Starbucks would have earned 24 cents a share, better than the 21 cents that analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters.

Investors applauded the results, sending shares up quickly after the announcement around 1:25 p.m. Pacific time. The stock had gained 49 cents to $19.70 in regular trading on Thursday

By the time executives began their 2 p.m. conference call with analysts, the stock was at $20.51 in after-hours trading. Starbucks stock has traded between $7.06 and $21.11 over the past year.