Why Analysts, Options Traders Are Targeting Starbucks Stock

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) stock is higher this morning, last seen up 1.6% at $102.84 following the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings report. The coffee concern announced earnings per share of $1 on revenue of $9.17 million, with the former beating forecasts while the latter fell shy of expectations. Plus, the company reaffirmed its fiscal 2023 forecast.

Options volume is running at six times the intraday average in response. So far, 54,000 calls and 30,000 puts have crossed the tape. The weekly 8/4 103-strike call is the most active contract, followed by the 102-strike call in the same series.

This denotes a shift in sentiment, per SBUX's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.07 that stands in the 99th percentile of annual readings. Conversely, the equity's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 2.39 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is higher than 83% of readings from the past year.

Analysts are split on how to play Starbucks stock. RBC raised its target price by $1 to $110, while Stifel, Wedbush, Jefferies, and Barclays all issued negative price revisions. Meanwhile, the current 12-month consensus target price of $114.73 is a 12% discount to the security's current perch.

On the charts, the 240-day moving average saved the security's early morning pullback. The shares boast a 22.3% year-over-year lead, but sport a much thinner 3.4% year-to-date gain.