Posts for Ticker ‘SBUX’

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (AMZN, ANSS, BEBE, CAH, CNQ, CROX, GCO, PEET, O, SBUX)

These are this morning’s top 10 analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls:

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein and target raised from $125 to $160.
ANSYS (NASDAQ: ANSS) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
bebe Stores (NASDAQ: BEBE) Cut to Hold at Brean Murray.
Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) Reiterated Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Genesco (NYSE: GCO) Raised to Outperform at R.W. Baird.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea (NASDAQ: PEET) Started as Buy at Janney.
Realty Income (NYSE: O) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) Reiterated Overweight at Piper Jaffray and raised 2010 targets.

You can join our open email distribution list to get updates on top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, secondary offerings, Warren Buffett and other guru activity, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 6, 2009 – 8:29 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Starbucks (SBUX) And The Recovery Of The Upper Classes

bucksStarbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) does not hand out information about the demographics of its customers, but they are not likely to be people who are poor, indigent, or even lower middle class. The coffee firm announced unexpectedly good earnings and offered a fairly optimistic forecast for its next fiscal year. For its quarter ending September 27, EPS grew from $.01 last year to $.20 and revenue dipped slightly to $2.4 billion.

It needs to be granted that much of the improvement in Starbucks’ bottom line was due to brutal cost cutting, but the tactic worked and that has helped the stock triple in less than a year. Read More »

Posted on: November 6, 2009 – 5:56 am in Earnings, Editor's Picks,

Media Digest 11/6/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The Wall St. insider trading probe lead to another 14 arrests.

Reuters:   Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) lost $19 billion and asked Treasury for money.

Reuters:   GM is readying its plans for Opel as some of its workers went on strike.

Reuters:   The pay czar says the jury is still out on reforms. Read More »

Posted on: November 6, 2009 – 3:58 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Starbucks (SBUX) Caffinated

bucksStarbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) posted good earnings .  Revenue for the quarter ending September 28, 2009 was $2.4 billion compared to $2.5 billion in the same quarter. For the period, EPS was $.20 compared to $.01 last year.

The news that heartened investors was that Starbucks CFO said “we are increasing our non-GAAP EPS outlook for fiscal year 2010 to a range of 15% to 20% growth over fiscal 2009.” Read More »

Posted on: November 5, 2009 – 4:55 pm in Earnings,

A Coffee Firm Merger Aimed At Starbucks (SBUX)

hersheyTwo coffee companies which sell their products online and through retailers are merging. They should be able to create a formidable competitor for Starbuck’s  retail business outside its own stores. Diedrich (NASDAQ:DDRX) will be bought by Peet’s NASDAQ:PEET) for $26 a share or $213 million. The consideration is well above Diedrich’s current price of just over $20.

Diedrich sells it single serving products and beans through restaurants, stores, and coffeehouses. Peet’s sells coffee and tea through restaurants and food services establishments and also sells coffee and tea makers. Neither firm has a chain of stores like Starbucks does, but each competes with the Starbucks branded coffees sold in grocery stores and super markets. Read More »

Posted on: November 3, 2009 – 5:40 am in Food, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , ,

Media Digest 11/3/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The value of the yuan could cause a trade war between the US and China.

Reuters:   Executive pensions rose despite drops in stock prices.

Reuters:   Lloyds will make a large stock offering.

Reuters:   Stanley Works (NYSE:SWK) bought Black & Decker (NYSE:BDK) for $3.46 billion.

Reuters:   CIT’s (NYSE:CIT) exit from bankruptcy is not clear.

Reuters:   UBS (NYSE:UBS) posted a loss and wealth management clients continued to leave.

Reuters:   Ford (NYSE:F) posted a surprise profit.

Reuters:   Manufacturing and pending home sales both rose.

Reuters:   Volker said the economy could not rely on consumer spending.

Reuters:   The commercial real estate business is still in deep trouble.

WSJ:   Toyota (NYSE:TM) expects a monthly sales decline.

WSJ:   IllyCaffè SpA will work with local coffee shops to compete with Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX).

WSJ:   The head of the IMF says financial firms are going back to old practices.

WSJ:   Blu-ray makers are becoming more involved with web video.

WSJ:   Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) is the focus of a number of bearish comments.

WSJ:   Schwab (NASDAQ:SCHW) is making a push into ETFs.

WSJ:   GM’s board will revisit the Opel sale.

WSJ:   Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Office faces inexpensive versions of similar software.

WSJ:   Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) may need to get cash from its Canadian operation which presents challenges.

WSJ:   Problems are beginning to appear in the financials of Chinese banks.

WSJ:   Business bankruptcies rose 7% in October.

NYT:   The US will allow GM to use federal money to put into Delphi.

NYT:   The Supreme Court is looking at fees advisors charge mutual funds.

NYT:   The Senate is pushing insurance companies on the amount of premiums they actually spend on care.

NYT:   Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) may buy tax credits from Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM)

FT:   The Fed has asked banks to adopt it new pay rules early to cover 2009 compensation.

FT:   Ebay’s (NASDAQ:EBAY) PayPal has opened doors to outside developers.

Bloomberg:   The next head of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) may be based in NYC.

Douglas A. McIntyre

 

Posted on: November 3, 2009 – 3:55 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Interview With Caribou Coffee CEO, Michael Tattersfield

caribouCaribou Coffee (NASDAQ: CBOU) is a retail and commercial coffee vendor.  Its stock has soared more than 500% this year, well outperforming its peer group.  24/7 Wall St. had an opportunity to interview the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Tattersfield, who recently took the helm at Caribou and brings with him extensive experience in the retail sector.  Tattersfield describes how the company has become profitable and how it plans to produce growth going forwards. Read More »

Posted on: October 28, 2009 – 4:30 am in Food, Interview, Retail, , ,

The 100 Hardest Working Brands In The World

hersheyThere are a number of ways to rank brand values. One of the most important is the level at which a brand contributes to the market value of a public company.

24/7 Wall St. asked Corebrand, the brand research and consulting firm, to look at the top 100 brands based their contribution to market capitalizaton. Using this method, the hardest working brand was Hershey (NYSE:HSY), followed  by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)

Corebrand described the process briefly to 24/7 Wall. St.

24/7 Wall St.: Corebard often refers to the brands on this list as the”hardest working brands”. How did you come to that description?

Corebrand: There are a lot of people measuring and examining the “strongest brands” or the “most valuable brands”.  Our opinion is that examining one without the other is somewhat meaningless.  How “strong” a brand is nice to know but not very relevant unless you understand how that strength benefits business.  Similarly, “value” is little more than a measure of corporate size unless you understand the drivers of that value and how to influence it. By examining the strength of the brand and it’s contribution to total market value, we can help companies and their leadership manage that strength and value over time.

24/7 Wall St.: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having a brand value be a very large percentage of market cap in the present and as an indication of a company’s future performance?

Corebrand: The brand will need to be in balance with the rest of the company’s assets.  A company should strive to have it’s brand strong enough to fend off competitors or changing market conditions but not so strong that it becomes overly dependent on the brand as a single driver of value.  If a company can achieve and maintain its appropriate maximum strength without becoming over-dependent, it will see greater returns in bull markets and retain greater value in bear markets.

The list: Read More »

Posted on: October 20, 2009 – 5:06 pm in Research, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Starbucks (SBUX) Begins To Thrash McDonald’s (MCD) In Coffee Wars

bucksMcDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) was supposed to crush Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) in the premium coffee business when the world’s largest restaurant chain introduced a line of premium java more than a year ago.

It turns out that McDonald’s impressive start as competition to Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and other specialty coffee retailers has begun to flag.

New research shows the momentum in terms of store traffic patterns has turned in Starbucks’ direction and it is likely that the trend will continue. Read More »

Posted on: October 14, 2009 – 2:15 pm in Food, Research, Restatements, Retail, , , ,

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Short Interest Steady, Down In Other Techs

bearThe short interest in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was steady in the period that ended on September 30 at 16 million shares.The bet being made against RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM) rose 13% to 13% to 19.2 million.  The shares short in other major techs stocks dropped.

Shares short in Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCD) dropped 14% to 19.1 million. Shares short in Juniper (NADSAQ:JNPR) dropped 11% to 36.8 million. The short interest in Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC)  dropped 8% to 12.9 million shares. Read More »

Posted on: October 10, 2009 – 2:53 pm in Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 10/8/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   GM says most of its cost cutting is done and its sales chief left.

Reuters:   Spot gold hit a record above $1,050.

Reuters:   The Senate healthcare bill weighs in at $829 billion.

Reuters:   Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) plans its first smartphone to be launched with AT&T (NYSE:T) using the Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android OS Read More »

Posted on: October 8, 2009 – 3:59 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Starbucks (SBUX): Instant Coffee=Instant Profits

bucksStarbucks (SBUX) has been talking about its foray into the instant coffee business for some time. The product “VIA Ready-Brew” will actually launch in the US and Canada today.

According to the company “Starbucks VIA is made with a proprietary, U.S. patent-pending microgrind technology to preserve the coffee’s taste, quality and freshness.” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz see the launch as a way to get the firm into the $21 billion instant coffee business using its brand power as leverage. Read More »

Posted on: September 29, 2009 – 5:32 am in Food, Retail,

Media Digest 9/29/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   China may hold the key to a sanctions program against Iran.

Reuters:   The head of the AIG (AIG) unit that caused most of the firm’s losses is back in US.

Reuters:   The G20 has set up a long struggle over bank capital rules. Read More »

Posted on: September 29, 2009 – 4:05 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (ALL, AMT, AAPL, CCI, ETFC, HGG, KBH, MFE, PCG, PG, SBUX, TOL, VMW)

These are this Friday morning’s top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls from Wall Street affecting shares:

Allstate (ALL) Raised to Buy at Argus.
American Tower Corp. (AMT) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Apple (AAPL) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
Crown Castle International (CCI) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
E*TRADE Financial (ETFC) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Hhgregg (HGG) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
KB Home (KBH) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
McAfee (MFE) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
PG&E Corp. (PCG) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Procter & Gamble (PG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Starbucks (SBUX) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Toll Brothers (TOL) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
VMware (VMW) Target raised to $32 from $23 at Auriga.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 18, 2009 – 8:10 am in Analyst Calls, Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 100 Most Valuable Brands Of 2009?

bearSeveral consulting firms post annual figures for the world’s most valuable brands. The two best known are probably the Interbrand and BrandZ surveys. They are notably different, up until now at least. BrandZ includes a number of large brands from Asia. Interbrand does not.

24/7 Wall St. has put together a list of the most valuable brands of 2009 by looking at valuation calculations from a number of sources. Then a base valuation was taken from the 2008 Interbrand data to fix values for this year and changes from last.

Most methods take into account the future earnings of a brand for its parent company. This is fundamentally a guess particularly during a turbulent period in the global economy. Interbrand’s rule is that a brand most get at least a third of its revenue from outside its country-of-origin. That is arbitrary, particularly as it apply to brands in China.

24/7 Wall St. has made the assumption that the value of most brands have been hurt log-term by the deep recession.  Forward earnings estimates for many of the firms on this list show that. Those brands which post value improvements show much more modest increases than they would be in a stable economy.

Looking at the Interbrand list from last year, it is fair to ask why firms like Nissan, Wal-Mart (WMT) and Red Bull are not present.

Because the brands on this list are taken from names on the Interbrand survey, we have not made a calculation about which companies may be new to their list in 2009 or which may drop off.

Public firms which are part of this ranking include (KO)(IBM)(MSFT)(GOOG)(GE)(NOK)(TM)(INTC)(MCD)(DIS)(HPQ)(AXP)(C)(HMC)(ORCL)(AAPL)(SNE)(PEP)(HBC)(NKE)(UPS)(FDX)(SAP)(DELL)(JPM)(GS)(KL)(EBAY)(SI)(F)(AIG)(AMZN)(CAT)(AVP)(RIMM)(GPS)(TIF)(BP)(SBUX)(JNJ)(MAR)(V)

The 100:  Read More »

Posted on: September 13, 2009 – 9:01 pm in Research, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Starbucks Snags S&P Upgrade (SBUX)

SBUX LogoThe debt ratings agencies might be tarnished on many fronts, but traders for debt and equities still pay attention to debt ratings agencies when they raise ratings on companies.  That is exactly what has happened today at Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX).  Standard & Poor’s has raised the upscale coffee retailer’s short-term debt ratings and revised its outlook to ’stable’ from negative.

S&P took its short-term and commercial paper ratings up to ‘A-2′ from ‘A-3′. S&P also reaffirmed the Starbucks ‘BBB’ rating (investment grade) for its corporate credit rating.  The most favorable note here is that despite the weak economy the company has been rewarded for improved credit metrics via cost controls and reducing debt.  More importantly, S&P believes that the company’s performance will continue to stabilize and that the credit metrics will continue to improve or remain at the current levels.
Read More »

Posted on: August 28, 2009 – 11:44 am in Analyst Calls, Bonds, Food, Retail,

Media Digest 8/27/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Derivatives traders dipped into $4 trillion in client collateral.

Reuters:   Home sales and durable orders improved.

Reuters:   The US softened its stance on private equity deals to buy banks.

Reuters:   The “pay car” will probably approve the AIG (AIG) CEO package. Read More »

Posted on: August 27, 2009 – 4:00 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Shorts Flee Tech Stocks (MSFT)(INTC)(ORCL)(CSCO)

bearShort sellers moved out of tech stocks in large volumes at mid-month. Based on short interest figures as of August 14, shares short in Intel (INTC) fell 33% to 88.3 million. The short interest in Microsoft (MSFT) was down 4% to 65.1 million. Shares short in Cisco (CSCO) fell 14% to 44.2 million. Short interest in Oracle (ORCL) dropped 13% to 29.5 million. The short interest in Nvidia (NVDA) dropped 29% to 26.2 million.

Among other widely followed stocks traded on Nasdaq, shares short in Sirius XM (SIRI) fell 11% to 119.6 million. Shares short in Level 3 (LVLT) were down 5% to 93.8 million. The short interest in Starbucks (SBUX) was up 10% to 44.3 million. Read More »

Posted on: August 25, 2009 – 7:00 pm in Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Larry Ellison: The Return Of The Dollar A Year Man

bucksSteve Jobs worked at Apple (AAPL) for $1 a year in 2000, just before the launch of the iPod which completely changed the company’s fortunes and made him astonishingly wealthy. Lee Iaccoca worked for $1 in 1978 when he took charge of crippled Chrysler. Read More »

Posted on: August 24, 2009 – 5:01 am in Compensation, , , , , ,

Starbucks (SBUX) Lowers Prices, Or At Least Some Of Them

bucksStarbucks (SBUX) has come up with a plan to lower prices on many of its drinks and raise prices on others. The process is almost certainly not random, but the company’s thinking will  not be passed on to customers.

The cost of small coffees and lattes will drop as much as $.10 in many markets. Starbucks is probably admitting that the lower end of its customer base, people with the least money, are unwilling to part with more than a couple of dollars at a time. The pricing for drinks might be called recession specials. Read More »

Posted on: August 21, 2009 – 5:24 am in Food,