Starbucks Is Betting Contactless Consumer Behavior Will Stick Beyond the Pandemic
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) had a pretty decent spring quarter, all things considered. Sure, sales of $4.2 billion (down 38% year over year) and a net loss of $678 million (compared with net earnings of $1.37 billion a year ago) are nothing to get excited about. However, the figures were better than feared, and with 97% of its more than 32,000 global stores operating again in some fashion, the empress of coffee is already on the road to recovery.
However, the biggest news surrounds Starbucks' plans for its stores. The company continues to talk about its "investments" in new store formats -- rather than using language indicating that pickup and delivery are an adjustment to the current state of world affairs. In recent months, ghost kitchens used for fulfilling delivery and pickup orders have been trending, and it's looking increasingly likely that restaurants and other food-prep outfits favoring on-the-go orders are the way of the future.
In light of the company's moves to update its operations, I'm adding Starbucks to my list of stocks that will emerge stronger from the current "redundancy crisis" brought on by the pandemic.
Source Fool.com