SEATTLE – A sold-out crowd on Wednesday gave Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz something you rarely see at a straight-laced shareholders meeting – boisterous rounds of applause.
That wasn’t surprising, given that Schultz opened Wednesday’s shareholders meeting by boasting that the company’s stock had soared to an all-time high on strong earnings the week before.
Starbucks shares rose 40 cents, or 1.2 percent, to close at $34.72 in trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market after hitting a new all-time high of $35 in intraday trading.
Schultz played to the crowd Wednesday, showing a slide noting that, since the company went public in 1992, share value had risen 6,400 percent – enough to turn a $10,000 investment into roughly $650,000. By comparison, the S&P 500 rose 211 percent during the same period.
There’s usually plenty of pomp and circumstance surrounding the annual meeting for Starbucks, the maker of pricey drinks. But this time around, there was an extra dose of glee and optimism in executives’ presentations to the estimated 5,000 shareholders at Seattle’s McCaw Hall.
Starbucks expects to open 1,800 stores worldwide this fiscal year, which ends in October, and chief executive Jim Donald said the company thinks it will one day be able to open stores even more rapidly.
Starbucks, which has more than 11,000 stores worldwide, maintained its estimates of eventually opening 30,000 stores worldwide, including 15,000 internationally, but it did not say how long that would take.
Schultz said the company was entering a new stage, focusing on what he called “the Starbucks effect.” He said that involves increasing its focus on selling music, striking movie marketing partnerships and otherwise giving customers already hooked on its coffee drinks new things to enjoy in its stores.
Starbucks announced it will release a CD by legendary crooner Tony Bennett later this year in honor of his 80th birthday. The silver-haired singer got a standing ovation when he performed “The Best Is Yet To Come” and other tunes.
Schultz hinted that the company planned to expand on its current wireless Internet access partnership with T-Mobile, but he didn’t disclose many details.
The company announced it will begin selling cans of iced coffee in its stores in late March, and will stock grocery and convenience stores in May.
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