Shares of (NASDAQ: SBUX) soared 21.3% higher in August 2024, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The giant coffee chain only had a single piece of game-changing news last month, but it was a big one. After 17 months on the job, CEO Laxman Narasimhan was pushed out to make room for a food service superstar. Starting on Sept. 9, former Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) CEO Brian Niccol will take the reins as Starbucks' CEO and chairman of the board.

Niccol comes with an impeccable track record. He led a turnaround of Yum! Brands' (NYSE: YUM) Taco Bell division in the 2010s before moving to Chipotle in 2018. There, he lifted the upscale Mexican food chain's annual sales from $4.48 billion to $10.66 billion in six years. Free cash flows multiplied from $251 million to $1.3 billion over the same span. Chipotle's stock returned 733% under Niccol's tenure.

At the same time, Starbucks underperformed the market with Narasimhan at the helm, with falling sales in the last two quarters. Analysts and investors were quick to embrace Niccol as the potential savior of a struggling brand, hoping to see a company culture revival similar to the ones he sparked in his last two CEO assignments.

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Source Fool.com