Candlestick Capital Management LP Trims Stock Position in Starbucks Corporation $SBUX

Candlestick Capital Management LP lessened its stake in shares of Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 80,542 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 778,825 shares during the period. Candlestick Capital Management LP’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $6,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SBUX. Transce3nd LLC grew its stake in Starbucks by 270.3% in the second quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 274 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Starbucks during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Starbucks

Here are the key news stories impacting Starbucks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Turnaround momentum: analysts and some prominent investors are calling Starbucks a recovery story after recent operational changes and a more generous rewards program that appears to be boosting demand. Josh Brown names SBUX a top stock
• Positive Sentiment: Customer loyalty actions: Starbucks revamped its rewards program to drive frequency and AUV recovery — a potential tailwind for same‑store sales if sustained. Rewards program update
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate and governance items: the company will webcast its March 25 annual meeting (forum for investor questions), and the CEO made small disclosed stock sales (minor ownership reduction). These are informational but not immediate operational catalysts. Annual meeting webcast SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Proxy‑advisor warnings: two proxy advisory firms flagged that Starbucks may be under‑estimating the financial and reputational risks from persistent labor disputes — a governance red flag that can pressure the stock and complicate investor support. Reuters: proxy firms warn Starbucks Seeking Alpha: proxy firms warn
• Negative Sentiment: Union restarts and contract push: Starbucks Workers United submitted a detailed contract proposal seeking a $17 minimum start wage and 4% annual raises and is seeking to reopen bargaining — this raises the prospect of higher labor costs and renewed store‑level disruption. Yahoo Finance: union contract proposal CNBC: details of baristas’ asks
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and analyst caution: coverage notes the union trying to restart talks and some firms moving to more cautious stances — near‑term investor anxiety over labor negotiations is weighing on the stock. TipRanks: union talks pressure stock WSJ: union seeks to reopen negotiations
• Negative Sentiment: PR/governance noise: founder Howard Schultz’s relocation and related publicity about state tax policy add incremental governance/PR distraction during sensitive labor negotiations. Financial Post: Schultz relocation coverage

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SBUX. William Blair upgraded Starbucks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Starbucks in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Starbucks in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Starbucks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Starbucks from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Starbucks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.22.

Starbucks Trading Down 1.0%

SBUX opened at $99.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $112.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.94, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.93. Starbucks Corporation has a 12 month low of $75.50 and a 12 month high of $104.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.32.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.03). Starbucks had a net margin of 3.63% and a negative return on equity of 28.66%. The company had revenue of $9.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. Starbucks’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Starbucks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Starbucks Corporation will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Starbucks

In related news, EVP Sara Kelly sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.12, for a total transaction of $242,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 59,609 shares in the company, valued at $5,789,226.08. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brady Brewer sold 588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $58,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,601,700. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 4,729 shares of company stock worth $460,974 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.