Sixty-One Percent Is BeveragesWide moat

Starbucks (SBUX) — moat facet

Sixty-one percent of revenue is a commodity beverage sold at a multiple of its inputs, which is what pricing power looks like when you can actually measure it.

Sixty-one percent of Starbucks' revenue is beverages, and the coffee inside them is a commodity anyone can buy.

Comparable sales split, North America-4%FY2025 transactions+2%FY2025 ticket+4.5%Q3 FY2026 transactions+3.5%Q3 FY2026 ticketBars show magnitude; the FY2025 transaction figure is a decline. Ticket can be manufactured.
Two years apart, the same two numbers, in opposite configurations — and only one of them is a healthy company.

Beverages were $22,539.9 million in fiscal 2025, food $7,049.9 million, and other items $7,594.6 million.1 Green coffee trades on an exchange. Milk is a commodity. The cup is a cup. Everything that separates a $6 Starbucks drink from its inputs is brand, format and habit.

That is the definition of pricing power and it is measurable here in a way it usually is not. Starbucks reports comparable sales split into transactions and average ticket, so the two effects are separated in every quarter. Fiscal 2025 was a bad year on this measure — comparable transactions fell 2% while ticket rose 1%, meaning revenue held up because of price rather than demand.2 The June 2026 quarter was the reverse and better: transactions up 4.2% and ticket up 3.6%, with the ticket increase attributed to delivery, food attach and beverage modifications rather than list price.3

The distinction matters more than it sounds. A ticket increase driven by customisation — an extra shot, oat milk, a syrup — is a customer choosing to spend more. A ticket increase driven by a price rise while transactions fall is a company taxing the loyal.

Starbucks has done both in the last two years, in that order.

The measure is transaction growth. Ticket can always be manufactured; transactions are the only honest read on whether people still want to come.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Beverages have been 60-61% of revenue for three years and the price premium over the inputs is unchanged. The mix moves with menu innovation rather than with anything structural.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Comparable transactions against ticket
FY2025: transactions -4%, ticket +2% in North America

And the ticket increase was attributed primarily to annualisation of prior-year pricing — a company covering lost visits with a price rise taken the year before. The June 2026 quarter reversed it: transactions +4.2% and ticket +3.6%, with the ticket growth attributed to delivery, food attach and beverage modifications rather than list price. Watch transaction growth: ticket can always be manufactured.

Source: Starbucks Form 10-Q, quarter ended 28 June 2026 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
References
  1. ReportedBeverages were $22,539.9 million in fiscal 2025, food $7,049.9 million, and other items $7,594.6 million.
    Starbucks Corporation, Form 10-K FY2025 — Note 11, Deferred Revenue, Note 17, Segment Reporting, Note 18, Restructuring, and Note 19, Subsequent Event. During fiscal 2018 Starbucks licensed the rights to sell and market its products in authorized channels through the Global Coffee Alliance and received an up-front prepaid royalty from Nestlé; the up-front payment of approximately $7 billion was recorded as deferred revenue because Starbucks has continuing performance obligations to support the alliance, including providing Nestlé access to certain intellectual properties and products for future resale, and is being recognised as other revenue on a straight-line basis over the estimated economic life of the arrangement of 40 years (a term beginning in fiscal 2018 and therefore running to 2058), a ratable pattern reflecting obligations that are generally constant throughout the term. As of 28 September 2025 the current and long-term deferred revenue related to the Nestlé up-front payment was $177.0 million and $5.6 billion respectively, against $177.0 million and $5.8 billion a year earlier, and Starbucks recognised $176.5 million of prepaid royalty revenue related to Nestlé in each of fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023. Changes in the deferred revenue balance for stored value cards and the loyalty program: opening balance at 29 September 2024 of $1,718.7 million, revenue deferred from card activations, card reloads and Stars earned of $15,245.8 million, revenue recognised from card and Stars redemptions and breakage of $(15,199.5) million, other $(13.3) million, closing balance at 28 September 2025 of $1,751.7 million; the prior year ran from $1,567.5 million with $15,807.1 million deferred and $(15,665.1) million recognised. For the fiscal years ended 28 September 2025, 29 September 2024 and 1 October 2023, Starbucks recognised breakage revenue of $200.4 million, $187.6 million and $196.1 million in company-operated store revenues, and $22.0 million, $20.0 million and $18.9 million in licensed store revenues. Total breakage recognised in fiscal 2025 across company-operated and licensed store revenues was therefore $222.4 million. Customers who register their stored value card in the US, Canada and certain other countries are automatically enrolled in Starbucks Rewards, primarily a spend-based loyalty program in which members earn Stars; in many company-operated markets including the US the cards do not expire and no service fees decrement balances, and a portion is recognised as breakage over time in proportion to redemptions based on historical redemption rates by market. Segment revenue mix by product type: beverage $22,539.9M (61%), food $7,049.9M (19%), other $7,594.6M (20%) for fiscal 2025. Information by geographic area: net revenues United States $27,124.7M, China $3,160.8M, other countries $6,898.9M; long-lived assets United States $15,952.7M, China $4,276.8M, other countries $4,407.9M; no customer accounts for 10% or more of revenues. Segment financials fiscal 2025: North America $27,373.1M, International $7,819.9M, Channel Development $1,871.7M, Corporate and Other $119.7M; fiscal 2024: $27,009.5M, $7,338.9M, $1,769.8M, $58.0M; fiscal 2023: $26,569.6M, $7,487.6M, $1,893.8M. On 3 November 2025 Starbucks announced an agreement to form a joint venture with Boyu Capital to operate Starbucks retail in China, under which Boyu will acquire up to a 60% interest based on a cash-free, debt-free mutually agreed total enterprise value of approximately $4 billion, with Starbucks retaining a 40% interest and continuing to own and license the Starbucks brand and intellectual property to the new entity, expected to close by early calendar year 2026. — FY2025 · publ. 2025-11-14 · source ↗
  2. ReportedFiscal 2025 was a bad year on this measure — comparable transactions fell 2% while ticket rose 1%, meaning revenue held up because of price rather than demand.
    Starbucks Corporation, Form 10-K FY2025 — Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis. Total net revenues increased 3% to $37.2 billion in fiscal 2025 compared to $36.2 billion; consolidated operating income decreased to $2.9 billion from $5.4 billion, with an operating margin of 7.9% against 15.0% — a contraction of 710 basis points primarily due to restructuring costs associated with the closure of coffeehouses and simplification of the support organisation (approximately 240 basis points), deleverage (approximately 210 basis points), investments in support of Back to Starbucks largely in labour hours (approximately 130 basis points) and inflation (approximately 80 basis points). Diluted EPS declined to $1.63 from $3.31. Capital expenditures were $2.3 billion against $2.8 billion, and $2.8 billion was returned to shareholders against $3.8 billion. Consolidated net revenues by type: company-operated stores $30,744.8M (+3.3%), licensed stores $4,350.4M (-3.4%), other $2,089.2M (+9.7%). Company-operated store revenue rose $979 million on net new company-operated store growth of 5%, or 1,010 stores, prior to the 627 restructuring closures late in the fourth quarter, plus $131 million from the conversion of 113 licensed stores following the 23.5 Degrees acquisition, partially offset by a 1% decline in comparable store sales ($408 million) attributable to a 2% decline in comparable transactions partially offset by a 1% increase in average ticket, primarily due to annualization of prior year pricing. By segment: North America total net revenues $27,373.1M (company-operated $24,793.0M at 90.6%, licensed $2,575.6M), operating income $3,156.7M with the margin contracting 830 basis points to 11.5% driven by deleverage (approximately 310 basis points), restructuring (approximately 240) and Back to Starbucks investments largely in labour hours (approximately 180); North America revenue rose 1% on net new company-operated store growth of 4%, or 441 stores, prior to the 584 restructuring closures, offset by a 2% decline in comparable store sales driven by a 4% decline in comparable transactions and a 2% increase in average ticket; store operating expenses were 56.4% of related revenues against 51.4%. International total net revenues $7,819.9M (+7%), operating income $950.0M at a 12.1% margin, contracting 210 basis points. Channel Development net revenues $1,871.7M (+6%), operating income $885.1M at a 47.3% margin, contracting 500 basis points primarily driven by a decline in North American Coffee Partnership joint venture income (approximately 350 basis points) and higher global product costs (approximately 90 basis points), with income from equity investees of $249.6M. Corporate and Other operating loss $(2,055.2)M. Cash and investments were $3.7 billion. Store closures in North America were substantially completed in fiscal 2025 and international closures were expected to complete in the first half of fiscal 2026; Starbucks expects a fiscal 2026 reduction in baseline North America company-operated revenues, partially offset by sales transfer to nearby coffeehouses, and expects the future impact on operating margins to be slightly accretive. The Green Apron Service model went live across the full US company-operated store portfolio in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, and Starbucks expects macroeconomic challenges including new tariffs and dynamic coffee prices to continue. — FY2025 · publ. 2025-11-14 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe June 2026 quarter was the reverse and better: transactions up 4.2% and ticket up 3.6%, with the ticket increase attributed to delivery, food attach and beverage modifications rather than list price.
    Starbucks Corporation, Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 28 June 2026 (SEC, CIK 829224). Net revenues for the quarter: company-operated stores $7,506.1M against $7,812.5M, licensed stores $1,200.8M against $1,105.6M, other $615.8M against $537.9M, total $9,322.7M against $9,456.0M; for the three quarters $28,769.3M against $27,615.4M. Restructuring and impairments $302.6M against $20.8M for the quarter and $415.8M against $137.0M for the three quarters. Income from equity investees $78.6M. Operating income $980.4M against $935.6M for the quarter and $2,699.3M against $2,658.4M for the three quarters. Net gain resulting from divestiture of certain operations $536.3M. Net earnings attributable to Starbucks $1,045.3M against $558.3M; diluted EPS $0.91 against $0.49 for the quarter and $1.62 against $1.51 for the three quarters, on 1,143.8 million diluted shares; shares outstanding 1,140.0 million as of 23 July 2026. Starbucks has a presence in 90 markets and, as of 28 June 2026, more than 41,000 company-operated and licensed stores, an increase of 1% from the prior year. Consolidated net revenues decreased 1% to $9.3 billion primarily due to the conversion of Starbucks retail operations in China to the licensed joint venture model, offset by a 7.9% increase in global comparable store sales driven by a 7.9% increase in the US market, where the increase was driven by a 4.2% increase in comparable transactions and a 3.6% increase in average ticket, primarily driven by higher delivery sales and strength in customer food attach and beverage modifications; consolidated operating margin expanded 60 basis points to 10.5%, primarily driven by sales leverage and lower inflation paired with tariff refunds, offset by higher restructuring costs and labour investments largely in support of Back to Starbucks. North America total net revenues for the quarter were $7,395.1M (company-operated $6,754.8M, licensed $639.4M), up 7%, driven by an 8.1% increase in comparable store sales on a 4.5% increase in comparable transactions and a 3.5% increase in average ticket; North America operating income increased 10% to $1,008.9M with the margin expanding 30 basis points to 13.6%, driven by sales leverage (approximately 340 basis points), lapping of the Leadership Experience 2025 (approximately 120) and lower inflation paired with tariff refunds (approximately 110), partially offset by higher restructuring costs (approximately 240), labour investments (approximately 190) and product mix shift (approximately 100); store operating expenses were 56.1% of company-operated store revenue against 56.5%, and 57.3% against 56.4% for the three quarters. For the first three quarters North America revenue rose 5% on a 6.2% increase in comparable store sales, with operating income down 10% to $2.6 billion and the margin contracting 210 basis points to 11.8%, primarily driven by labour investments largely in support of Back to Starbucks (approximately 240 basis points). International quarter revenues were $1,322.6M against $2,010.7M, with company-operated store revenue falling from $1,526.8M to $751.3M and licensed store revenue rising from $465.1M to $561.4M. On 30 March 2026 Starbucks completed the divestiture of its retail operations in China; Boyu Capital acquired a 60% interest based on a cash-free, debt-free mutually agreed total enterprise value of approximately $4 billion, the transaction was partially financed with debt issued by the newly formed joint venture, and Starbucks received total consideration of $3.1 billion inclusive of its share of the debt proceeds, retaining a 40% interest of approximately $1.2 billion accounted for under the equity method. Starbucks derecognised net assets with a carrying value of $3.4 billion and reclassified approximately $282.8 million of cumulative translation adjustment losses and $99.7 million of net investment hedge losses from accumulated other comprehensive income into earnings, recognising a pre-tax gain of $536.3 million; incremental income tax expense associated with the gain is approximately $198.6 million and transaction costs were approximately $44.1 million for the quarter and $73.8 million for the three quarters. Upon completion, 7,991 company-operated stores previously included in the disposal group were converted to licensed stores within the International segment, and Starbucks continues to own and license the Starbucks brand and intellectual property to the joint venture; for the third quarter, revenues generated from the joint venture were $52.5 million and related product and distribution costs $18.5 million, with the carrying value of the investment $1.2 billion. Starbucks expects the conversion to the licensed joint venture model to continue to drive lower revenues and higher operating margin, used a portion of transaction proceeds for debt reduction, and states a shared long-term aspiration to grow to as many as 20,000 locations in China over time. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026 management approved a restructuring plan to relocate certain functions of the support organisation to an additional office in Nashville, Tennessee; in the third quarter it announced an additional fiscal 2026 restructuring plan focused on further transformation of the global support organisation and non-retail facilities and on reducing the future operational complexity of Starbucks Reserve and Roastery locations, resulting in a reassessment and impairment of the associated asset group. — Q3 FY2026 · publ. 2026-07-29 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026