Shares of popular coffee chain (NASDAQ: SBUX) spent much of the past year on a steady decline after investors were unimpressed with the company's new leadership after the retirement of founder Howard Schultz. But things can change quickly on Wall Street. A couple of high-profile activist investors got involved with Starbucks, which then jettisoned its chief executive officer and replaced him with Brian Niccol, who was leading Chipotle Mexican Grill.

The move has won back investors. The share price has surged roughly 30% over the past month. With that gain in the rear-view mirror, is it too late to get back into Starbucks stock?

Former CEO Laxman Narasimhan had a tough task following Schultz, who built Starbucks from a regional chain into a global machine with more than 39,000 stores. Sales momentum had steadily waned as consumers pushed back on constant price increases and longer wait times on orders. Schultz himself criticized Starbucks, describing the brand as losing its shine. In addition, competition has aggressively challenged Starbucks in China, where it is pursuing strategic expansion.

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Source Fool.com