Is SBUX a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Starbucks Corporation on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how SBUX compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Starbucks Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to SBUX based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes SBUX a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

SBUX - Starbucks Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $108.50 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

C+ 58.8 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

B- 62.6

5yr Avg ROIC 16.7% 84/100
Operating Margin Trend -1.36 pp/yr 13/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

D 34.4

5yr Avg ROE 0.0% 10/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -1.0% 80/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

C- 50.1

5yr Revenue CAGR 6.4% 67/100
5yr EPS CAGR -17.6% 0/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 5/5 100/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

A- 82.7

5yr FCF Margin 9.9% 70/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.99x 99/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

C 53.3

Net Debt / EBITDA 4.30x 25/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 6.81x 72/100
Altman Z-Score 3.03 81/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

B 69.7

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.37 47/100
Piotroski F-Score 7 78/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 0/5 100/100

4 of 4 gurus held; 1 added; 3 trimmed; 1 full exit.

Holders: 4
Avg Δ position: -14.1%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 1

Mandel sold -100%
Cooperman decreased -36%
Dalio decreased -20%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.