YUM - Starbucks' Sales Slump Due To Social Media Boycott Says Analyst | Benzinga
BofA Securities analyst Sara Senatore reiterated a Buy rating on the shares of Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) with a price target of $108.00.
The analyst rejects management's explanation of consumer caution, value seeking, and lagging throughput for the same store sales growth collapse in second-quarter FY24 earnings.
Instead, the analyst attributes the precipitous slowdown to social media calls to boycott Starbucks over tensions in the Middle-East.
Boycott related hashtags were 10,000x higher on the Oct. 23 peak (21,800) than they were on the Oct. 3 trough. Volume spiked to an all-time high on Jan.13 (47,000) before reaching lower peaks in early Feb., mid-March and early-April, noted the analyst.
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