Market Currents

• Wednesday, November 25, 2009

• 08:50 AM Starbucks (SBUX) is looking to China as its next big market after the U.S. in the near future, the firm's China chairman says. "This has really become our second home market," Wang Jinlong said, noting profit contributions from the Chinese market more than doubled in 2009. Comment!

• Thursday, November 5, 2009

• 17:34 PM Starbucks (SBUX): Saw improving traffic as well as cost savings after closing more than 900 stores worldwide. The company's seen eight straight quarters of declining same-store sales, but with improvement: -1% this quarter, compared to -5% in Q2 and -8% in Q1. Shares +3.8% AH. Comment!
• 16:21 PM Starbucks (SBUX): FQ4 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $2.4B (-4%) in-line. Expects full-year EPS growth of 15-20% from $0.80, and sees little net impact from commodities, with favorable coffee prices offsetting higher dairy prices. Expected capex of $500M-$550M. (PR) Comment!
• 00:10 AM Notable postmarket earnings: ATML, ATVI, BID, CBS, CIM, CROX, EOG, HANS, IGT, IPI, JDSU, LEAP, NVDA, PSA, SBUX, SD, SUN, SWKS, TIE, TS, VRSN Comment!

• Saturday, October 10, 2009

• 16:17 PM In aggregate, short interest in U.S. stocks continues to decline. But that doesn't mean shorts have gone away altogether. Current favorites: Eastman Kodak (EK), Rite Aid (RAD), Baker Hughes (BHI), Starbucks (SBUX) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU). 1 Comment

• Wednesday, September 9, 2009

• 11:34 AM Alstead also defended Starbucks' (SBUX +3.8%) strategy, saying it "will not allow others to continue to define us in the customer's eyes." Earlier this year, a McDonald's (MCD -1.4%) billboard proclaimed 'Four bucks is dumb.' But MCD may not be getting the boost it hoped for from McCafe; earlier today it posted a disappointing 1.7% increase in U.S. same-store sales. 2 Comments
• 11:27 AM Starbucks (SBUX +3.6%) bumps 30 U.S. stores off its closure list after performance improved considerably, CFO Troy Alstead said at an investor conference this morning. Comment!

• Wednesday, July 22, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: ONXX +32%. ATHR +11%. AAI +9%. SBUX +9%. BDSI +8%. CKSW +6%. AKRX +4%. AAPL +4%. STX +4%. HGSI +4%.
  Losers: AMD -14%. PPDI -13%. AAN -12%. CIT -8%. RSH -7%. KEY -6%. WFC -6%. HEB -6%. SAY -6%. MS -5%. ERX -4%. SLM -4%. YHOO -4%. CVBF -4%. RCL -4%. GILD -4%. BK -4%. CHU -4%. SQNM -4%. Comment!

• Tuesday, July 21, 2009

• 16:18 PM Starbucks (SBUX): FQ3 EPS of $0.24 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $2.4B (-6%) in-line. Operating margin of 10.6% vs. 6.9% in 2008. Delivered $175M in cost savings, exceeding its FQ3 target of $150M. Comps fell 5% vs. an 8% decline in FQ2. Shares +8.7% AH. (PR) 2 Comments
• 00:10 AM Notable earnings after Tuesday's close: AAPL, AMD, AMLN, ATHR, BXP, CHRW, FULT, GILD, ILMN, LLTC, NBR, PPDI, PTV, QLGC, RHI, SBUX, SLM, STX, SYK, VFC, YHOO Comment!

• Tuesday, June 30, 2009

• 18:37 PM Tom Weber likens the success of Kindle (AMZN) to Starbucks (SBUX), which convinced us to pay $2 for a coffee by creating an environment in which we could actually enjoy it. And the Kindle? It's all about unitasking. 1 Comment

• Wednesday, June 17, 2009

• 12:41 PM Starbucks' (SBUX) latest attempt to stop the bleeding. Comment!

• Wednesday, June 3, 2009

• 10:45 AM "Food has been the Achilles' heel of the company," says a Starbucks (SBUX) exec, describing plans to revamp store menus to be healthier and wallet-friendlier. But after trying to sell music, DVDs, coffee machines, and brunch foods, some wonder if Starbucks will ever realize there's nothing wrong with just selling coffee. 3 Comments

• Monday, June 1, 2009

• 14:46 PM In the closest pairing in years between an advertiser and national TV news, Starbucks (SBUX) will become the official sponsor of 'Morning Joe,' an MSNBC (GE) news program. One exec says Starbucks is paying over $10M for the deal. Comment!

• Saturday, May 30, 2009

• 06:36 AM How Starbucks (SBUX) is going low-rent... literally. 2 Comments

• Wednesday, May 27, 2009

• 07:56 AM McDonald's (MCD) wants to expand its chain of McCafe stores in Europe to 1,200 by the end of the year, and aims to overtake Starbucks (SBUX) as "the biggest seller of coffee in Europe." Starbucks has definite reason to worry. 1 Comment