Topic: How To Invest

I am wondering about Starbucks Corporation. They seemed to do very well last year. Keep up the good work!

Article Excerpt

Starbucks Corp., $75.65, symbol SBUX on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 753.6 million; Market cap: $56.6 billion; www.starbucks.com), is a leading seller and roaster of specialty coffee. Starbucks has 8,078 company-operated stores and 5,415 licensed outlets in 62 countries. Stores in the Americas supply 74% of its sales, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa (8%), and China and the Asia-Pacific region (6%). It gets a further 6% of its sales by selling coffee and other beverages through supermarkets and 3% from other activities, like online sales. In its 2013 fiscal year, which ended September 29, 2013, Starbucks’ sales rose 12.7%, to $14.9 billion from $13.3 billion in fiscal 2012. That’s partly because the company opened 1,701 new stores during the year. On a same-store basis, sales rose 7%, reflecting a 5% increase in the number of transactions and a 2% rise in selling prices. Earnings jumped 24.3%, to $1.7 billion from $1.4 billion. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose…