Dutch Bros vs. Starbucks: How a $10,000 Bet Played Out Over 3 Years
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on August 6, 2026.
Three years of the coffee war left a $7,971 gap: $10,000 in Dutch Bros is worth $19,115 today, while the same money in Starbucks inched to $11,144. Scale bought loyalty while returns lagged.
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Dutch Bros (BROS) turned a $10,000 starting investment into $19,115 over the three-year period, a total return of 91.1% and a 1.91x multiple. Starbucks (SBUX) managed only an 11.4% gain over the same stretch, leaving that same $10,000 at $11,144. The gap between the two outcomes works out to $7,971.
The ride for Dutch Bros shareholders was far from smooth. The chart shows the position dipping below its starting value on multiple occasions before a sharp surge carried it well above $20,000 at points, with the final reading settling at $19,115. Starbucks spent most of the period underwater relative to the starting price, only recovering toward breakeven and modest gains in the later portion of the window.
The contrast captures a broader dynamic in the coffee sector over this period: an expanding challenger building customer loyalty as it added locations, against an established giant whose scale did not translate into comparable shareholder returns.