Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Robert W. Baird

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on SBUX. Needham & Company LLC set a $120.00 price target on Starbucks in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley cut Starbucks from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded Starbucks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Starbucks from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Melius Research set a $110.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Starbucks presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.30.

Starbucks Trading Down 1.6%

SBUX opened at $105.76 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.59. The company has a market capitalization of $120.57 billion, a PE ratio of 60.78, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.97. Starbucks has a 1-year low of $77.99 and a 1-year high of $110.51.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The coffee company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.19. Starbucks had a net margin of 5.17% and a negative return on equity of 34.10%. The firm had revenue of $9.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.550-2.650 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Starbucks will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Starbucks news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.99, for a total value of $236,251.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,135 shares in the company, valued at $7,963,558.65. This represents a 2.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,687 shares of company stock valued at $681,663. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Starbucks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SBUX. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Starbucks by 10,101.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 179,138,252 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $18,306,138,000 after purchasing an additional 177,382,188 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Starbucks by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,727,405 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $7,135,228,000 after buying an additional 7,007,268 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the second quarter worth about $8,504,509,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Starbucks by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 47,869,056 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $4,031,053,000 after buying an additional 327,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Starbucks by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,373,084 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $2,212,153,000 after buying an additional 225,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Starbucks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fall menu and promotions support traffic prospects. Starbucks launched its fall menu, including the returning Pumpkin Spice Latte and new seasonal food and beverages. Recent limited-time offerings, including the Unicorn Frappuccino, reportedly generated a 28.5% traffic lift versus a typical Saturday, suggesting menu innovation is helping the “Back to Starbucks” strategy. Starbucks launches fall menu
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism remains intact. Baird initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $124 price target, implying additional upside based on expected traffic, margin and execution improvements. Baird initiates coverage on Starbucks
• Neutral Sentiment: Restructuring is continuing. Starbucks plans to eliminate more than 200 corporate positions, primarily in Seattle, while expanding or shifting operations to Nashville. The cuts could improve efficiency and support the $2 billion turnaround, although they also highlight the scale of the company’s operational reset. Starbucks job cuts and Nashville expansion
• Negative Sentiment: Union boycott raises near-term sales risk. Starbucks Workers United, representing more than 12,000 baristas, is urging customers to boycott the chain until management reaches a contract agreement. The timing—at the start of Pumpkin Spice season—could weigh on customer traffic and distract from the turnaround, though the financial impact will depend on the boycott’s participation and duration. Starbucks union calls for boycott

Starbucks Company Profile

Starbucks Corporation is a global coffeehouse chain and roaster that operates, licenses and franchises coffee shops and related retail businesses. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker, the company grew from a single store focused on whole-bean coffee and equipment into a broad consumer-facing brand. Howard Schultz, who joined the company later and served in senior leadership roles, is widely credited with transforming Starbucks into a mass-market specialty coffee retailer and expanding its footprint internationally.

Starbucks’ core activities center on the retail sale of hot and cold specialty beverages, whole-bean and packaged coffees, teas and ready-to-drink products, along with complementary food items and merchandise such as mugs and brewing equipment.