Cup writing has been a practice for some time now at coffee giant Starbucks (SBUX). While it has spawned some controversy, it has also brought some smiles. And sometimes, it brings both at the same time. That recently happened to Starbucks, and the end result proved welcome enough for investors. That was clear with Starbucks stock rising nearly 2% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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It started when Aimee Wagstaff hit a Starbucks for a drink, wearing her normal work clothes of green scrubs, as she works in healthcare. The barista took advantage of cup writing policies to leave a note of gratitude on the cup: “Thank you for saving lives.” And this would have worked perfectly, except that Aimee Wagstaff works as a lip-filler specialist, a field which saves about as many lives as a typical shoe salesman does.
That is kind of a funny mix-up, certainly, and one that started from a misunderstanding meant to give full benefit of the doubt. But it snowballed from there as debate began online. Some believed it was “pretty unhygienic” for Wagstaff to wear scrubs to a Starbucks. Wagstaff noted that there were days where she, as a lip-filler specialist, wore scrubs but did nothing more in them than consult with clients.
Free Coffee Today
For those not familiar, today is Veterans Day in the United States, a day devoted to remembering our soldiers. And Starbucks is offering up free 12-ounce coffee for veterans for the rest of the day. Plus, Starbucks is also giving a $200,000 donation to a set of “military-adjacent causes” like the Wounded Warrior Project.
This is the kind of thing that really can do Starbucks no harm here. Outright donations to veterans’ causes are a tax write-off under most circumstances and good press. Free coffee for veterans costs the opportunity cost of a cup plus whatever goes into the bean / water / electricity to brew it equation. It should represent a significant win for Starbucks in this case.
Is Starbucks Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on SBUX stock based on 13 Buys, seven Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 14.37% loss in its share price over the past year, the average SBUX price target of $96.11 per share implies 11.32% upside potential.
