(NASDAQ: SBUX) stock is still trailing the market in 2023, but investors aren't nearly as pessimistic about its growth potential as they were just a few weeks ago. The sentiment shift was sparked by the coffee giant's fiscal Q4 report that in early November showed solid operating and financial trends, paired with an optimistic outlook for the new fiscal year ahead.

The headline results included double-digit sales growth and rising profitability even as consumers became more cautious about spending. But the best news around Starbucks' business today is that the company isn't relying solely on price increases to boost sales or earnings.

The pace of sales gains slowed a bit when compared to the previous quarter. Yet the news is more positive when you look behind those big-picture results. Customer traffic in the core U.S. market accelerated to a 2% increase from a 1% uptick in the prior quarter. This was even better news considering that peers like McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) reported declining customer traffic in the same period.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com