Don't call it a comeback quite yet, folks... Starbucks (SBUX) is still in dire straits. The coffee giant's stock is down about 4% over the past year.

This Beaten-Down Coffee Giant Is Eyeing a Recovery By Ethan Goldman, junior analyst, Chaikin Analytics Don't call it a comeback quite yet, folks... Starbucks (SBUX) is still in dire straits. The coffee giant's stock is down nearly 14% over the past year. But its latest quarterly report earlier this week showed signs of a possible turnaround... Of course, at the helm of this change is none other than Brian Niccol. Regular readers will recall that in August 2024, Starbucks announced that Niccol would be joining the company as CEO. And he brought more than just savvy marketing skills... Remember, Niccol successfully turned around other fast-food names at Yum Brands (YUM). He also got the burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) back on its feet before he went to Starbucks. From the day Chipotle announced that Niccol would be joining the company to the day it announced his departure, CMG shares soared an incredible 927%. It's easy to see why investors are searching for the first signs of Starbucks' revival. No one wants to miss more stock gains crafted by Niccol. So let's take a closer look today. And we'll see what the Power Gauge thinks, too... Recommended Links: Four Years of Nvidia Gains... in 24 Hours? Tech-investing legend Jeff Brown, the man who picked Nvidia before it jumped 32,000%, just recommended THREE new AI trades. They're to take advantage of a strange phenomenon that has delivered gains big enough to turn $10,000 into $101,700, $151,600, and even a mind-blowing $650,000... all in a 24-hour period. Click here to see the details. Today: Five Stansberry Experts Name Their No. 1 Stock of 2026 Join our corporate affiliate Stansberry Research for "Game Plan 2026," as five of their most respected analysts unveil their biggest buy call of the year... share a complete game plan for 2026... and even name their top individual stock ideas (names and tickers), 100% free of charge. Click here for the names and tickers. The 'Smart Money' Places New Bets on Starbucks' Stock On Wednesday, Starbucks reported earnings for the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year. The company touted year-over-year growth of 3% in net revenue for its North America segment. Now, the company saw its operating margins and income shrink. Starbucks says that this was due to two factors... The first was labor investments to support its "Back to Starbucks" plan. You see, Starbucks is putting its money where its mouth is. The company knows it needs to invest in itself in order to change. And the second factor was inflationary pressures. Starbucks said this was due to higher than usual coffee pricing and tariffs. To be clear, Starbucks also missed its earnings per share ("EPS") estimates by about 5% for the quarter. That said, this was the closest Starbucks came to beating expectations in the past four quarters. And the earnings misses have been shrinking over the past three quarterly periods. Meanwhile, the Power Gauge has picked up on some changes in the stock. You'll see what I mean in the chart below... As I said earlier, Starbucks' stock has been struggling in recent months. But earlier this month, Starbucks' relative strength versus the broad market jumped higher. And so did its Chaikin Money Flow – which measures the so-called "smart money" activity on Wall Street. Institutional investors started piling into the stock. You see, on January 15, Starbucks announced a new goal for its coffeehouses in America. The company said it planned to add at least one "coffeehouse coach" to nearly every U.S. store by the end of the year. As regular readers will recall, Starbucks customers felt the company had "lost its way"... In 2024, Bloomberg reported that about 8% of customers waited between 15 and 30 minutes to get their orders. It's no surprise that those kinds of wait times would drive folks to other options.  Starbucks' leadership knew that couldn't last. The coffeehouse coach is meant to train and support both partners and leaders when they need it most. The plan to expand this role seems to have excited the smart money on Wall Street. As I said, institutional investors started scooping up Starbucks' stock in the wake of the announcement.  It's the second and largest surge of smart-money buying activity in six months. And thanks to these big investors, Starbucks' relative strength ticked into positive territory for the first time since last April. Now, this may sound like Starbucks' recovery is in its past. But the Power Gauge says that isn't the case... Starbucks gets a "neutral-" overall rating in our system right now. This rating happens when a "bearish" or worse stock is trading above its long-term trend line. Put simply, the Power Gauge has picked up on some positive signs recently. But those aren't enough to save the stock's overall rating. Our system still sees plenty of red flags "under the hood." Of course, there's a lot that could go wrong before the stock takes off. But for now, the smart money sees something in part of Niccol's "Back to Starbucks" plan.  The Power Gauge says that it's too early to bet on a full-on recovery just yet. However, I'll have an eye on Starbucks for some stronger positive signals in our system. Keep the stock on your radar. Good investing, Ethan Goldman Market View Major Indexes and Notable Sectors     # Hld:     Bullish     Neutral     Bearish Dow 30 +0.02% 7 19 4 S&P 500 -0.2% 113 263 124 Nasdaq -0.6% 27 50 29 Small Caps +0.03% 631 947 311 Bonds +0.02% Communication Services +2.6% 0 0 0 — According to the Chaikin Power Bar, Small Cap stocks are more Bullish than Large Cap stocks. Major indexes are mixed. *  *  *  * Sector Tracker Sector movement over the last 5 days Energy +3.27% Communication +3.05% Utilities +1.45% Information Technology +1.37% Materials +0.97% Real Estate +0.56% Industrials +0.22% Consumer Staples -0.17% Financial -0.48% Consumer Discretionary -1.17% Health Care -2.82% *  *  *  * Industry Focus Health Care Equipment Services 9 34 21 Over the past 6 months, the Health Care Equipment subsector (XHE) has underperformed the S&P 500 by -0.09%. Its Power Bar ratio, which measures future potential, is Weak, with more Bearish than Bullish stocks. It is currently ranked #17 of 21 subsectors and has moved up 1 slot over the past week. Indicative Stocks AORT Artivion, Inc. ZBH Zimmer Biomet Holdin BAX Baxter International *  *  *  * Top Movers Gainers LUV +18.7% RCL +18.65% META +10.4% NCLH +10.25% CCL +8.46% Losers LVS -13.96% URI -12.86% FSLR -10.18% MSFT -9.99% NOW -9.94% *  *  *  * Earnings Report Earnings Surprises IP International Paper Company Q4 $-0.08 Missed by $-0.33 DOW Dow Inc. Q4 $-0.34 Beat by $0.17 WY Weyerhaeuser Company Q4 $-0.09 Beat by $0.04 HIG The Hartford Insurance Group, Inc. Q4 $4.06 Beat by $0.84 VLO Valero Energy Corporation Q4 $3.82 Beat by $0.55 *  *  *  * You have received this e-mail as part of your subscription to PowerFeed. If you no longer want to receive e-mails from PowerFeed, click here. You're receiving this e-mail at STEVENMAGALLANES520.NIMS@BLOGGER.COM. For questions about your account or to speak with customer service, call +1 (877) 697-6783 (U.S.), 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Eastern time or e-mail info@chaikinanalytics.com. 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