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Starbucks Share price
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Starbucks has best. day. ever.

The market loves the CEO switcheroo

If you’re planning a management coup, this is about as good a market reaction as you could hope for.

Shares of Starbucks soared 24.5% on Tuesday, their best single-day gain since the shares went public in June 1992. The stock price careened higher after the Wall Street Journal broke the story that the company is replacing Laxman Narasimhan, CEO for about 16 months, with Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol in September.

The rise added roughly $20 billion to Starbucks’ market cap in a single session.

For sheer drama, the only session that could rival Tuesday occurred on July 1, 1999, when then-CEO Howard Schultz introduced a half-baked idea to expand the company’s costly and distracting foray into internet retailing, resulting in a cataclysmic collapse of 28%, which remains its worst day ever. The lede of the the Wall Street Journal’s story the next day: “Earth to Howard Schultz: Return from cyberspace. Your coffee needs you.”

But even after the surge in Starbucks shares on Tuesday, the stock still has been a clear money-loser for investors in recent years. Over the last five years it’s down roughly 1%, while the S&P 500 was up about 85% and the S&P 500 restaurants subdivision up 25% over the same period.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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