If you have ever heard of coffee then its likely you have heard of, or been to a Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX). The coffee chain has had its share of ups and downs like any company but lately it has become a favorite for all types of investors.
If you like the fundamental approach then you may have glossed over SBUX in the past but, with the upgrades and comments out of Wall Street analysts you may want to take another look. On Thursday the stock was upgraded again and the analysts left a glowing prediction of the future. Analyst Mark Astrachan of Stiefel Nicolaus upgraded the name to buy from old and raised the firms price target to $67, an 11% increase from the current price. The main focus of his comments were that they believe Starbucks can grow their same store sales in the U.S. by at least 5% - 6% over the next four quarters. Part of this prediction comes from the coffee chains beverage innovation as well as the broader food options. Technology was also something they thought would help further grow sales, with their mobile loyalty and payment feature.
Now, if you are a chartist then you were pretty happy with the response to Thursday's upgrade. Shares blasted off over 1.5% but more importantly, it was how they did it. Since December the stock has moved back and forth in a wild, large range leaving no real trend or "smooth sailing" trend for the bulls. Long term investors haven't seen any progress on the uptrend since 2015.
Well that may all change soon as technical traders finally got the breakout they were looking for. Thursday the stock moved above the range and held above it for the duration of the day. While any breakout is exciting, this one will likely grab even more attention as it moved to new highs on the year but also moving to highs not seen in over 10 months. In a market where the rewards are coming from picking stocks and not a broad, blanket market investment, Starbucks has a reason for all traders to participate.