Starbucks stock is down 30%, is it time to buy?
- Oskar Volčanšek
- Apr 21, 2024
- 1 min read
Starbucks stock has had quite a hard year with its stock down 30% since the peak, but besides that, Starbucks as a business is doing quite well.
Business Overview
In q1 global revenues increased by 8% year over year, their operating margin improved by 130bps or 1,3% and their EPS grew 20% YoY.

Revenues for the whole year increased by 11% from 32 billion $ to almost 36 billion $. And net income per share was up from 2,83$ to 3,58$.

The question is can they continue to grow?
Yes, they can grow, at least according to their FY24 guidance, they are projection revenue growth of 7-10%. And growth between 4-6% for the same stores, but new store revenues are expected to grow from 4-13% based on the region.

Bad balance sheet, some debt, but not that much money
While yes there is growth I don't like the balance sheet. First of all, they have 3 billion dollars in cash and 13,5 billion dollars in debt, but that's not a problem considering their cash flow.
The thing I am more concerned about is their ratio of current assets to current liabilities. They have 6,5 billion dollars of current assets and 9,4 billion dollars of current liabilities. That's a ratio of 1-0,7, for example, Benjamin Graham recommends that a company should have a minimum of 1,5 $ for 1$ of liabilities so a 1,5-1 ratio, but I would at least like to see a 1-1 dollar ratio.
Even more, concerning is that total liabilities exceed total assets by 8 billion $. That translates into negative equity. But looking at McDonald's and other restaurant companies their equity is also negative. Still, I don't like it, but the investability in Starbucks will depend on the valuation.

Valuation
Starbucks earned 3,58$ per share which means if you buy Starbucks today at around 88$ you will get an earnings yield of 4% which is in line with the general market. But Starbucks is growing at a faster pace than the S&P 500 so it deserves to be more expensive
Dfc valuation
In my valuation discounted cash flow analysis I made three scenarios:
In a normal scenario I estimated that Starbucks earnings will grow by 12,5% for the first five years of the valuation and 7% for the second half of the valuation.
In a bad scenario, I estimated that Starbucks's earnings will grow by 8% for the first five years of the valuation and 4% for the second half of the valuation.
In the best scenario, I estimated that Starbucks's earnings will grow by 15% for the first five years of the valuation and 10% for the second half of the valuation.
In all three cases, I used my required rate of return of 10%. In the end when I weighed all three scenarios (normal scenario presents 60% of the final intrinsic value, bad case 20%, and best case 20%) I got the fair value of Starbucks at 72,95$ per share,
But to get the true intrinsic value we need to adjust the valuation for net debtt, then I got the intrinsic value of 63,60$.
But any conservative investor should add another layer of protection with a margin of safety, I always use a 20% margin of safety which makes my buy price for Starbucks around 50$.

Conclusion
Starbucks is certainly a better investment than the S&P500 it has a lower price ratio higher growth and a better dividend.
But for me, it is not a buy at these prices although I may allocate 0,5-1% of my portfolio to Starbucks because I like the company, but it's too expensive and too risky for a bigger position. Maybe if Starbucks drops to below 60$, wil I add a bigger position.
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