Caffeinated Growth Ahead
On Wednesday Starbucks (SBUX) held its biannual analyst meeting. I think the stock can go higher from here, as I believe Starbucks really does have a viable expansion plan; that it's working hard at extending its day part; and that the company is executing its business plan at a very high level.
The company kicked off analyst day by announcing plans to build a dizzying 3,000 net new stores in the Americas by 2017. Management also announced plans to aggressively renovate thousands of existing locations over the next five years. Also over the that period, the company sees an additional 1,500 stores in the U.S. alone. Its confidence is bolstered by the fact that the U.S. locations continue to provide positive comparisons. In fact, during the fourth quarter Starbucks was able to sustain a 7% same-store comp -- 2% from an increase in average ticket price and 5% from higher sales. Fourth-quarter U.S. revenue growth is at 17% -- almost back to the 18% record Starbucks was able to achieve in fiscal 2011, after a disastrous period in 2009 to 2010....527 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
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