Starbuck's is back on track to drive to record sales with new consumer love

Starbucks is one of the few shining stars in consumer food and service sentiment

For the first quarter of 2023, Starbucks had a record-setting period for sales, gift cards, and mobile app downloads, with an 8% YoY revenue increase from 2022, bolstered by a massively successful “red cup” season. It even introduced a podcast and has launched a new Web3 project around the digital experience and the mobile app for a new layer of community NFTs.

U.S. same-store sales at company-operated stores open at least 13 months were up 10% from the same quarter last year, ahead of analysts’ expectations. Price increases in the company’s North American market helped offset higher supply-chain, ingredient, and labor costs during the quarter, Starbucks said. The company said that average daily transactions per U.S. store remain lower than before the pandemic.

One area that Starbucks is overperforming vs. the overall market is Service Sentiment, the staffing and customer engagement has shown to be improving year over year. This continued growth throughout the year has shown in overall restaurant sales increase.

Leadership change

Starbucks is in the midst of a CEO transition. The incoming chief executive, Laxman Narasimhan, (former Pepsi CEO) started at the company last year and is expected to take the helm on April 1, when Mr. Schultz is set to step down.

Mr. Schultz said Thursday that he and Mr. Narasimhan are in touch daily and that the incoming CEO is the right person to take the company's reins in the coming weeks.

Starbucks’ stock recently slid after the company missed its quarterly revenue estimate, in part because of an immense drop in sales across China as the country grappled with tight lockdowns followed by a renewed surge in the spread of the virus, resulting in reduced commerce that hurt retail businesses across the country—one of Starbucks’ largest markets.

Starbucks operates more than 6,000 stores in China across over 230 cities.

Drive Thru Sentiment: 83.3
Staff Engagement: 78.65
Speed of Service: 82.06
Food Quality: 80.02
Takeout Delivery Rating: 76.51

Overall Sentiment Performance Past 12 Months