Starbucks management check
SBUX · Consumer Discretionary · Restaurants · CEO Brian Niccol
Filings as of
3 good · 2 to watch · 2 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $110, against $165 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.81 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Watch
What does the CEO cost owners?
1.7% of net income$31.0m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $1.9bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 1.4 years of payThe CEO holds 428,696.951 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 1.4 years of pay. Light activity: no buys, $1.6m sold in six months. 9 of 9 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -0.5% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.9% of revenue in the latest year.
- Flag
Is leadership stable?
4 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: Brian Niccol, Laxman Narasimhan, Howard Schultz, Kevin Johnson. 13 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Consumer Discretionary.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 9 | 70 | |
| Pay for performance | 91 | 79 | |
| CEO cost | 32 | 44 | |
| Skin in the game | 42 | 36 | |
| Dilution | 56 | 74 | |
| Stable leadership | 0 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Restaurants, by management score. Starbucks is 45th of 47 in its sector.
- 223MCDMcDonald's66
- 303DRIDarden Restaurants61
- 324DPZDomino's60
- 356CMGChipotle Mexican Grill58
- 438YUMYum! Brands48
- 448SBUXStarbucks47
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed January 26, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Brian Niccol, Laxman Narasimhan, Howard Schultz, Kevin Johnson | $31.0m | $3.6m | $8.9m | $110 | $165 | $1.9bn |
| 2024 | — | $95.8m | $96.4m | $5.7m | $126 | $137 | $3.8bn |
| 2023 | — | $14.6m | $20.7m | $5.2m | $115 | $107 | $4.1bn |
| 2022 | — | $16.7m | $375k | $7.5m | $104 | $94 | $3.3bn |
| 2021 | — | $20.4m | $61.6m | $5.9m | $136 | $119 | $4.2bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted EPS. Its other key measures: Adjusted Net Revenue, Adjusted Operating Income, Comparable Store Sales, Relative TSR.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Brian R Niccol (chairman and ceo) held 428,696.951 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Sep 9, 2026, roughly $42.9m at that filing's price.
Light activity: no buys, $1.6m sold in six months. 9 of 9 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldBrady Brewerceo, International · 10b5-1 plan$1.4mOct 20, 2026
- SoldSara Kellyevp, chief partner officer · 10b5-1 plan$210kApr 29, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Jun 12, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 17, 2025Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Jul 2, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 26, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 4, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 7, 2025Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Mar 4, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 16, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 21, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 16, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 14, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 31, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Mar 30, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $18.4bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 107% of net income, and $1.5bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $29.1bn | $32.3bn | $36.0bn | $36.2bn | $37.2bn |
| Net income | $4.2bn | $3.3bn | $4.1bn | $3.8bn | $1.9bn |
| Stock-based pay | $319.1m | $271.5m | $302.7m | $308.3m | $318.3m |
| Buybacks | $0 | $4.0bn | $984.4m | $1.3bn | $0 |
| Dividends | $2.1bn | $2.3bn | $2.4bn | $2.6bn | $2.8bn |
| Diluted shares | 1186m | 1159m | 1151m | 1137m | 1140m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.