Top 10 Stocks Wall Street is Discussing

4. Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 76

Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, said in a recent program on CNBC:

“Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) right now has an incredible setup. Obviously, I like the fundamentals here, but just purely from a technical standpoint, this thing looks coiled, and I think the next move is a break above. Back in May of 2023, which is almost two full years ago, is when this chart peaked out, and it peaked below the prior highs set back in 2021. It failed and spent almost two full years consolidating. Now we could be off to the races. The stock is up 24% year to date. It is the sixth-best performing stock in the S&P 500 this year. Just reported a kitchen-sink quarter.”

The Street is turning bullish on SBUX amid its new CEO Brian Niccol. Why? He has a solid history of turning around businesses. Bill Ackman brought Niccol to Chipotle Mexican Grill from Yum! Brands to turn the company around. Ackman sold his stake in Chipotle in the second quarter of 2024, just before Niccol transitioned to Starbucks. During Niccol’s tenure, Chipotle shares rose 700%.

Invesco Growth and Income Fund stated the following regarding Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX): The coffee retailer has struggled with China’s economic softness, declining sales and weaker US store traffic that have hampered revenues and profit margins. However, we believe the company has several positive, long-term catalysts, including strong growth in store count, better labor relations, improving productivity from labor, technology and innovation, and easier future earnings comparisons. We believed a management change was imminent, and shortly after we purchased the stock, Starbucks named a new CEO, which was seemingly greeted enthusiastically by investors.”