NEW YORK, Feb 11, 2026, 10:27 ET — Regular session
- Starbucks shares up about 0.2% in morning trade after two straight daily declines
- Wall Street opened higher after a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report
- Investors are watching whether Starbucks’ new menu push lifts traffic without further pressuring margins
Starbucks Corp shares rose 0.2% to $97.75 in morning trade on Wednesday, clawing back a sliver of the prior session’s losses. The stock traded between $97.35 and $98.32 earlier in the session.
The broader tape helped. U.S. stocks climbed after a jobs report showed payrolls rose 130,000 in January and the unemployment rate eased to 4.3%. “The underlying employment picture looks like it’s stronger than expected,” said Jordan Rizzuto, chief investment officer at GammaRoad Capital Partners. (Reuters)
For Starbucks, the push-pull is familiar: show better traffic, don’t give away the store. The chain rolled out one of its widest U.S. menu updates in years on Feb. 9, adding bakery items, a new everyday brewed coffee and permanent drink launches, Axios reported; food now brings in about a quarter of its U.S. sales, the report said. (Axios)
CBS News said the rollout includes items such as a Dubai chocolate bite, a cookie-croissant swirl, a new 1971 Roast coffee and fruit-flavored matcha drinks. “Customers told me that our menu needed to feel more relevant,” Chief Executive Brian Niccol said at an investor day. Same-store sales — sales at locations open at least a year — rose 4% in the latest quarter, Starbucks reported in late January. (CBS News)
Analyst moves kept the stock on screens, too. Wolfe Research raised its Starbucks price target to $112 from $100 and kept an “outperform” rating on Feb. 10, according to an MT Newswires item carried by MarketScreener. A price target is an analyst’s estimate of where the stock could trade in about 12 months, not a promise. (MarketScreener)
Starbucks ended Tuesday down 1.46% at $97.53, its second straight daily decline, even as the Dow eked out a gain. The stock outperformed Coca-Cola on the day but lagged modest gains in PepsiCo and McDonald’s, MarketWatch data showed. (MarketWatch)
The consumer backdrop has turned less clean. U.S. retail sales were flat in December and spending at food services and drinking places slipped 0.1%, a gauge of discretionary demand, a Commerce Department report showed. “Signs of earlier consumer strength may be starting to falter,” said Thomas Ryan, a North America economist at Capital Economics. (Reuters)
Starbucks is also leaning on brand marketing around big moments. It said on Tuesday it will tie into New York Fashion Week and host a “coffee rave” in Tribeca on Feb. 13 with DJ LP Giobbi. (About Starbucks)
Rates stayed in the picture after the jobs data. Traders priced only about a 20% chance of a Federal Reserve cut by April, Reuters reported, as policymakers watch inflation and growth. (Reuters)
But there is a margin question hanging over the story. Starbucks’ operating margins have fallen for eight straight quarters, and Niccol has said the “strategic investments” to fix operating foundations “will take time to flow through” to sustainable earnings growth. (Reuters)
Investors also have a near-term calendar item: Starbucks has declared a $0.62 quarterly dividend, payable on Feb. 27 to shareholders of record on Feb. 13, the company said in its latest quarterly results release. (Starbucks Investor Relations)
Next up, markets get the U.S. consumer price index for January on Friday, Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET — a read that can move rate bets and, by extension, consumer stocks. (Bls)
