Starbucks has spent the last year trying to fix itself. Store closures. Menu simplification. Faster service. Better staffing. All under the direction of CEO Brian Niccol, the guy who turned Chipotle into a growth machine.
And according to Jim Cramer, it’s working.
Cramer revealed in January that Starbucks is a significant position in his charitable trust. He’s been pounding the table on the turnaround for over a year, and he’s not backing off now. In a recent appearance, he said Niccol has a plan—and more importantly, an algorithm. The company is closing underperforming stores and expanding in the Midwest, where Starbucks is still underpenetrated.
The numbers back him up. Guggenheim raised its price target on Starbucks to $95 from $90 on March 5, citing improved same-store sales. The firm boosted its Q2 same-store sales growth estimate to 4.8%—a notable acceleration. At the same time, Guggenheim lowered earnings projections for fiscal years 2026-2028, which might sound contradictory. But it’s not. The firm is betting on revenue growth and operational improvements, not just margin expansion.
Starbucks shares are up 7.6% year-to-date and 2.3% over the past year. That’s not a moonshot, but it’s steady progress in a choppy market. More importantly, the company is making the right moves operationally. Niccol is closing bad stores, improving employee schedules, and refocusing the brand on what made it great in the first place: a premium coffeehouse experience.
Cramer compared Starbucks’ turnaround favorably to Nike’s, which has been a messier story. “Brian has a plan,” Cramer said. “He’s closing bad stores and he’s moving the company much more towards the Midwest where they don’t have enough.”
The real question now is whether Starbucks can sustain this momentum. The U.S. consumer is still under pressure from inflation and higher interest rates. Coffee is discretionary. But if Niccol can keep improving store-level economics while expanding in underserved markets, Starbucks could quietly become one of the better turnaround stories of 2026.
Cramer’s betting on it. And so far, the data says he’s right.
