Starbucks Loses Legend But Not Its Road Map, Wall Street Says
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Starbucks Corp. faces “an almost unbridgeable gap” with the departure of founder and Executive Chairman Howard Schultz, according to William Blair analysts. Shares of the coffee kingpin have outperformed the S&P 500 by five-fold in the past decade, leaving Wall Street to wonder who might fill the shoes of such a “legendary leader.” That said, analysts don’t expect Schultz’s resignation to alter the company’s strategic focus on expanding in China and improving domestic comparable-store sales. The shares slipped as much as 3 percent in early trading.
Here’s what analysts are saying about the news: