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

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on SBUX. Needham & Company LLC set a $120.00 price target on shares of Starbucks in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Starbucks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Melius Research set a $110.00 target price on Starbucks in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial lowered Starbucks to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Starbucks from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, Starbucks has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.30.

Starbucks Price Performance

Shares of Starbucks stock opened at $105.76 on Monday. Starbucks has a 1 year low of $77.99 and a 1 year high of $110.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $104.65 and its 200 day moving average is $100.59. The stock has a market cap of $120.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.78, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In related news, CEO Brady Brewer sold 2,229 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.99, for a total transaction of $236,251.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,963,558.65. The trade was a 2.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,687 shares of company stock valued at $681,663. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Starbucks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SBUX. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Starbucks by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 17,002 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in 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 worth $18,306,138,000 after acquiring an additional 177,382,188 shares during the period. Trans Canada Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Starbucks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,022,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Starbucks by 357.9% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,511 shares of the coffee company’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 14,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Starbucks by 9.2% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 17,457 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.