Starbucks Corp share price up, plans to expand alcohol sales, tries to double market value

The Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks Corp – Mr. Howard Schultz officially announced at the companys annual investor meeting held in Seattle that the company wants to reach a market capitalization of 100 billion dollars, or almost double its current value.

The announcement comes at a time when the company is seeking to expand its digital business and is trying to increase growth of its tea brand Teavana. Chief Executive Officer Schultz, however, did not disclose a certain date as a deadline of reaching this target.

Recently, the company has been focused on sales of non-coffee items, products such as juice, Teavana tea, food and alcohol, in an attempt to fuel its growth in the U.S.

Part of Mr. Schultzs statement was cited by the Financial Times: “We are in the early stages, the nascent stages of our growth and development.” The companys Chief Executive Officer also said: “The growth of mobile payments in our stores is significantly bigger than the core growth of our business.”

After a telephone interview with Troy Alstead, who is the current Chief Operating Officer of the company, it also became clear that Starbucks Corp. is planning to expand its evening alcohol and light bites menu.

As reported by Bloomberg, Mr. Alstead said: “We’ve tested it long enough in enough markets – this is a program that works. As we bring the evening program to stores, there’s a meaningful increase in sales during that time of the day.” The companys Chief Operating Officer also explained that the evening food and drinks program is not to be offered in all of the companys cafés.

The first time when Starbucks Corp. sold alcohol was four years ago in Seattle. The company announced in January 2012 that it intends to test the sales to as many as 25 locations in the U.S.

Starbucks Corp. rose by 1.76% on NASDAQ on Wednesday and closed the session at $75.91, marking a one-year change of +32.18%. The company is valued at $57.38 billion. According to CNN Money, the 27 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Starbucks Corp. have a median target of $90.00, with a high estimate of $98.00 and a low estimate of $78.00. The median estimate represents a +18.56% increase from the last price of $75.91.