Updated 4:30 pm EST

Starbucks (SBUX) might have started as a coffee shop, but it now counts as a chain restaurant -- and it's become the third-largest in the U.S.

When measured by sales dollars,McDonald's (MCD) tops the chart, and Subway comes in second. Starbucks is No. 3, according to a study by research firm Technomic. Not bad for a company that closed thousands of stores and went through its own mini-crisis in the economic recession.

Starbucks' rise is certainly bad for Burger King and Wendy's (WEN), which used to round out the top three behind Mickey D's.

Still, all is not well at Starbucks today. The company's share price dropped nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it disappointed analysts with its profit forecast for 2011. Before today, shares had zoomed 30% in the last year to $37.18.

Post continues after this video about how well Starbucks is doing:
Starbucks said that while sales were strong, profit in the quarter was affected by the earthquake in Japan and the bankruptcy of Borders Group (BGP). Profit was $261.6 million, or 34 cents a share, a 20% increase from a year earlier. That 34 cents a share is exactly what analysts wanted to see.

The company reported a 10% jump in revenue to $2.8 billion, above the $2.73 billion analysts were anticipating. Comparable store sales rose 7% -- which breaks down to a 6% increase in traffic and a 1% increase in the average customer receipt.

But earnings for the full year, the company said, would be between $1.46 to $1.48 a share -- lower than the $1.50 a share analysts were expecting.

"Our sales, traffic and customer trends all point to the expanding power of the Starbucks business and brand," said chief executive Howard Schultz in a statement. Chief financial officer Troy Alstead also crowed: "The underlying health of our business has never been better and our fiscal second quarter results continue to demonstrate this strength."

The company is expanding beyond the coffee shop, and it plans to get more products into grocery stores. Starbucks is even joining the K-Cup mania, working out a deal with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) to offer its brew for Keurig machines.

One reason for Starbucks' success is that consumers feel the chain is healthier than other fast-food offerings, a Technomic spokesman told Marketplace radio. Subway benefits from that impression as well.

And what about Burger King and Wendy's? "They've found it harder to compete with the McDonald's of the world, as well as what we're seeing in the better burger segment with fast, casual giants like Five Guys Burgers and Fries really coming up the ranks and kind of chomping at their heels in terms of the burger market and what they're able to offer," said the spokesman, Darren Tristano.

Starbucks gets about 70% of its revenue from the U.S. and is expanding quickly overseas.

The economy has recovered to the point where stores catering to higher-income people are doing well, one analyst told Reuters. Starbucks falls squarely into that category. "I think the trade-up is on again," the analyst added.

Starbucks has raised prices as the cost of coffee has gone up. The price of its packaged coffee sold in supermarkets has gone up by an average of 12%, Reuters reported.