Tuesday September 13, 2022, 19:00:26

SBUX: Analyst Meeting Showcases a Starbucks Obsessed with Improving Itself

By Mark Kalinowski

Earlier today, Starbucks hosted an Analyst Meeting in Seattle. While meaningful investments are called for in multiple areas, we believe that this will lead to a much stronger Starbucks for the long run, including happier partners (employees) and improved customer experiences.

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Thursday September 1, 2022, 07:00:00

SBUX: Multiple Advantages vs. Unions

By Mark Kalinowski

While we continue to view unionization of some U.S. company-owned Starbucks stores as offering zero meaningful positives from the perspective of Starbucks (and its shareholders), it is important to remember multiple key advantages that Starbucks has and that are likely to persist for many, many years to come. Bottom line: while a modest amount of U.S. company-owned Starbucks stores are likely to be unionized at any given time (200+ at present, out of approximately 9,000 total), Starbucks is unlikely to be meaningfully impacted adversely, other than so-called “headline risk,” the worst of which may already be over. Here are some key reasons why:

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Tuesday August 2, 2022, 20:04:45

SBUX: Onward to the 9/13 Analyst Meeting

By Mark Kalinowski

After today’s (Tuesday’s) market close, Starbucks reported adjusted fiscal Q3 (calendar Q2) EPS of $0.84, close to our $0.85 forecast, and ahead of sell-side consensus (according to Consensus Metrix) of $0.77. That said, on today’s conference call, management noted that fiscal Q3 EPS was helped by about +5 cents due to what it called “non-recurring benefits,” citing multiple factors including tax credits and government subsidies. Other than these non-recurring factors, the fiscal Q3 EPS outperformance relative to consensus was helped by better flow-through in the North American business (thanks in part to a more stable operating environment), as well as better-than-expected performance in Japan.

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