Founded in 1971, Starbucks is now the largest coffeehouse company in the world with over 17,000 retail stores in 55 countries. During its lifetime, expansion and acquisition have defined the growth of Starbucks, which now has over $11 billion in annual sales and a market cap of $36.5 billion. In 1996, when the total store count was only around 1000, Starbucks opened its first store outside of North America, with branches in Japan and Singapore. In 2003, Starbucks acquired Seattle Coffee Company, which includes Seattle’s Best Coffee. In 2010, Starbucks began to offer customers with free, unlimited Wi-Fi.
Since going public in 1992 at $0.53 per share, after adjusting for stock splits, prices climbed until reaching a peak in 2006. After hitting a low below $8 in late 2008, the shares have bounced back up to the high 40s, closing most recently at 48.45. For Q4-2011, Starbucks reported net income of $382 million, up over 10% from the same quarter previous year. Total revenue saw 16% increase across the same time. Starbucks has benefited from consumer products business, including the sales of Starbucks ice cream. While the P/E ratio of 29.22 may initially seem high, it is far below that of Dunkin' Brands Group (NASDAQ: DNKN) at over 100. Caribou Coffee Company (NASDAQ: CBOU) has P/E at around 10.45, but its market cap size is about two orders of magnitude smaller than that of Starbucks.
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