Starbucks (SBUX) has rallied nearly 40,000% since its 1992 IPO, turning a $10,000 ticket into nearly $4 million.
On Friday, the company that made the record told 300 more workers that they were out, took a $400 million restructuring charge, and saw its stock soar. Wall Street called it the right move.
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Starbucks went public on June 26, 1992, at $17 per share. After six 2-for-1 sessions, that converts to about $0.26. The stock closed Friday near $106.79, pushing its market capitalization to nearly $121.7 billion.
The actual earnings per share is now hovering around 408 at the time of the IPO, with a yield of 2.32% before the settlement.
To put this in numbers that crypto traders can understand, Bitcoin would need about 400x from current price to match what Starbucks has already done.
The merger has survived the crash of 2008, pandemic closings and the power shake-up of 2022. It has also survived two CEO changes and years of single-store declines.
SBUX is up 26% year to date in 2026, the most recent anniversary the boring stuff sometimes outweighs the good stuff and where the crypto-versus-stocks debate it usually doesn’t end the way Twitter hopes.
Changes Behind New History
Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” plan finally showed up in the numbers last month. Price for Q2 FY26 he left 9% to $9.53 billion, beating the consensus.
Global same-store sales rose 6.2%, while North America rose 7.1% on a 4.4% increase in sales. It was the first quarter in more than 2 years that the top and bottom lines grew.
Management raised full-year guidance for same-store sales growth to 5%, from 3% previously, and reaffirmed plans for 600 to 650 new coffee houses in 2026.
The global inventory currently exceeds 41,000 stores. Combined sales in China separately released about $3.1 billion in revenue, the kind of A quiet security game that crypto only tries to emulate.
The Layoffs Wall Street Rejoiced
On May 15, Starbucks he said it will cut 300 U.S. company positions in marketing, human services, and retail operations and close some regional support offices. Employees of the coffee house are not affected.
The move will result in $400 million in restructuring costs, including $280 million in write-downs and $120 million in write-offs.
It’s Niccol’s third cut since taking on the role, and Jim Cramer pitched it on CNBC as a planned play.
“He’s said over and over that he needs to grow up. That’s what he’s doing,” CNBC said reportquoting Cramer.
The market valued SBUX at about 81 times its earnings, a multiple that assumes the merger is still going strong.
The next leg of thepublic consumer affairs,which has now equaled the last 34 years, depends on whether the restoration of the Niccol boundary turns out to be a genuine offense or another expensive defense of a previously granted title.
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A note The $5 Coffee Habit Compounded 40,000% Yet Wall Street Still Enjoys Suspension appeared for the first time BeInCrypto.
