Starbucks prepares first investor day after CEO announcement
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On Tuesday, Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) is set to present its first investor day since naming a successor to current CEO Howard Schultz. The event is expected to highlight aims to âmodernize and transformâ the brand and âreinvent Starbucks for the futureâ.
Among headwinds confronting the chain are battles with unions, lockdowns in China that hamper its most important non-US market, executive attrition, plans of large-scale store redesigns, and a more uncertain macroeconomic backdrop. These issues have led many investors and analysts to beg questions of the companyâs long term plans amid the coming CEO transition. According to SeekingAlpha data, a majority of Wall Street analysts have moved to a âHoldâ rating in 2022. 
Shares of Starbucks (SBUX) have declined nearly 24% in 2022 despite a strong rebound from mid-year lows.
As of yet, details on how to comprehensively handle the concerns that have sparked the year-to-date decline are scant. As such, Tuesdayâs investor day is hotly anticipated, with analysts left speculating on potential details of the presentation and the possible appearance of incoming CEO Laxman Narasimhan.
Baird analyst David Tarantino said he expects the meeting to be âlargely upbeatâ, with bullish commentary winning over some skeptics.
âWe expect the updates to inspire confidence in the company's longer term growth prospects, even while the multi-year plan for earnings growth could be somewhat back-weighted as SBUX leans in on investments in [fiscal year 2023] to bolster the foundation for accelerated growth in 2024 and beyond,â he told clients. âWith Founder and interim CEO Howard Schultz previously signaling plans for "accelerated" growth, we would not be surprised to see an ambitious plan for the next several years that calls for earnings growth above the prior algorithm.â
Tarantino proposed the possibility of a âmid-teens or higherâ annual EPS growth forecast, up from a 10-12% projection, for the next three years. Nonetheless, Tarantino reiterated his âNeutralâ rating on the stock, in-line with the majority of analysts.
The investor presentation is slated to begin at 10:30AM ET on Tuesday. 
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