Starbucks ( SBUX ) CEO Brian Niccol says he needs more time to show a clear turnaround to investors, but there are signs of early progress.

"I think the timeline is, when we start delivering great experiences for our customers and set the partners [employees] up for success to deliver those experiences, you will see the business grow accordingly. And that's what we're working on," Niccol told Yahoo Finance on Wednesday (video above).

The former Chipotle head honcho declined to say when the US business would be back in growth mode.

Niccol added, "I think you'll see [progress] manifest itself in a lot of different ways. There's more than just a comp metric and an earnings metric. I think you're going to see those metrics start to move in the right direction, and that will then be the leading indicators to say, look, a lot of good things are on the way for the Starbucks business."

Read more about Starbucks' stock moves and today's market action.

One message rings loud and clear from the company's latest quarterly results: It will take longer than expected for its star CEO to right the ship.

Operating profit margins plunged in all business segments, led by a 640-basis-point drop in the North America business. Starbucks' marketing investments and improvements in customer wait times contributed to the sharp declines.

Same-store sales in North America fell for the third straight quarter, in part as consumers have become more cautious amid the Trump administration's trade war .

And now the company said it's reviewing its store base — often a sign of future store closures as the chain looks to improve its operations and margins.

Shares fell 10% in the Wednesday session.

"Management couldn't have been louder on kitchen sinking. Said differently, this transformation needs time and investors should expect compressed margins and sales. While painful to witness, the stock reaction during the earnings call suggests that the re-baselining reality is sinking in among investors, and it could provide a great entry point into a more de-risked stock," Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo said.

Earnings analysis

What else caught our attention: Mixed guidance

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi , Instagram , and LinkedIn