An unexpected win emerged for coffee giant Starbucks (SBUX), as the union—Starbucks Workers United—has gone on a surprising offensive. Reports note that the union has said the strikes have no end date. Yet despite the potential for infinite strikes, Starbucks stock still gained ground. Shares were up modestly in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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Starbucks’ unionized workers are still on strike today, reports note, even as Starbucks rolled out a new holiday beverage. The so-called “Red Cup Rebellion” is still in play, and the union is making it clear that it plans to keep right on going until Starbucks brings out a “serious and fair contract,” reports noted.
Yet, based on word from representative Jaci Anderson, there is little reason for Starbucks to do that. Anderson made it clear: the latest Red Cup Day proved the best of the lot, delivering the highest sales on that day Starbucks had ever seen. Anderson elaborated, saying “Less than 1% of our coffeehouses are experiencing any level of disruption and the vast majority of our 240,000 partners came to work ready to serve our customers.”
The Unexpected Local Boost
Meanwhile, for those areas that recently saw Starbucks shops close due to the strike, unexpected wins are being harvested by local coffee shops. Out in Evanston, Illinois, the manager of Patisserie Coralie noted that sales are up about $200 a day thanks to Starbucks’ ongoing closure. The manager, who was only identified as Nathan, noted “It’s really picked up during commuter hours, in the morning and late afternoon.”
Several other local coffee shops reported gains as well, though none were quite so quantified as Nathan’s assessment was. Even nonunion Starbucks locations reported that they were busier than normal, a move that suggests the union’s plan is not likely to go very far.
Is Starbucks Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on SBUX stock based on 12 Buys, seven Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 15.19% loss in its share price over the past year, the average SBUX price target of $95 per share implies 12.88% upside potential.
