Starbucks shares slid around -1.2% in pre-market Monday, following a downgrade by a UBS analyst.
Analyst Dennis Geiger lowered rating on the coffeehouse-chain’s stock to “neutral” from “buy”. However, he bumped up his price target on the stock to $78 a share from $72, owing to the company's $2 billion share buyback program and a modest increase in its fiscal 2020 earnings per share estimate. But he cautioned against what he perceives are risks from "downside to more elevated sales/earnings expectations as an offset."
Geiger cited firming same-store-sales momentum and streamlined operations as factors he considers as strong positives for Starbucks.