Coffee Talk

Starbucks Stock Price Falls Slightly on News of La Boulange Purchase

News arrived yesterday that San Francisco bakery-café chain La Boulange had sold itself to Starbucks for $100 million. As of today, the news isn’t totally thrilling investors, and Starbucks’ stock price fell slightly in morning trading from its closing price yesterday of $53.90 to a current price of $52, a 3.5 percent drop.

Analysts seem to think this acquisition is a long-term project, however, and Starbucks stock is still worth a lot more than it was last August when it hit a low of $34 a share. In addition to this expansion news, Starbucks recently purchased the Evolution Fresh juice-bar brand, and in a European-café vein they’ve been testing out Starbucks locations that sell beer and wine in New York, Southern California, and elsewhere — something that La Boulange already does in about half of its cafés.

La Boulange is tiny in comparison to the behemoth that is Starbucks, with only twenty Bay Area locations, and it sounds like the coffee giant is planning to eventually expand La Boulange to other cities as well.

In the short term, within the year, you can expect to see Starbucks replacing many of its baked goods at locations around the country with La Boulange pastries, including their perfectly acceptable croissants.

Ahead of the Bell: Starbucks falls in premarket [CBS]
Earlier: La Boulange Chain Gets Swallowed By Starbucks Monster
‘Stealth’ Starbucks Will Serve Beer and Wine Inside Renovated Macy’s

Starbucks Stock Price Falls Slightly on News of La Boulange Purchase