Starbucks market share in at-home coffee products reaches 2017 highs

Starbucks Corp.'s market share for at-home ground coffee was 16.2% for the four weeks ending Dec. 2, reaching 2017 highs for both the K-Cup and traditional ground coffee segment. K-Cup market share was up about 130 basis points month-over-month to 18.9% according to Nielsen numbers quoted in a UBS note. And ground coffee was up 70 basis points month-over-month to 13.6%. Ground coffee sales rose 4.1% year-over-year, outperforming the 0.7% growth for the broader category. "Starbucks demonstrated another solid month of U.S. single-serve and traditional ground coffee performance against sluggish category trends," analysts led by Dennis Geiger. "We believe Starbucks' brand strength, loyalty, product, innovation and channel expansion support continued share gains, with international CPG a significant opportunity to drive additional channel development segment growth." UBS rates Starbucks shares buy with a $64 price target. Shares are up 7.2% for the year to date while the S&P 500 is up 19.1% for the period.

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