Staff members work at a Starbucks store in downtown Shanghai, east China, Sept. 27, 2022.
Liu Ying | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Starbucks (SBUX) has wrongly become a “hated stock,” amid concerns about the coffee chain’s growth opportunities in China, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday.
“I think that’s a mistake to hate it,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.” His Charitable Trust, the portfolio used by the CNBC Investing Club, owns shares of Starbucks.
Cramer’s comments Thursday come after Seattle-based Starbucks announced 7.6% increase to its quarterly dividend, bringing its annual payout to $2.28 per share. That translates to a yield around 2.4%, based on Wednesday’s closing price of $95.16 per share.
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Shares of Starbucks have fallen nearly 18% since notching a 52-week high of $115.48 on May 1. One overhang on the stock over that stretch has been its bet on China, a key growth market for the company. In the three months ended July 2, China accounted for about 9% of Starbucks’ overall revenue.
“I’ve not seen anything that indicates Starbucks is being hurt in China,” Cramer said Thursday, adding that he’s less worried than others about the growth of local rival chains, such as Luckin Coffee. “They have so many more Starbucks that they can put up. It’s not like people aren’t going to Starbucks.”
Here’s a full list of the stocks in Jim’s Charitable Trust, the portfolio used by the CNBC Investing Club.
