Will Starbucks’ (SBUX) LA28 Olympic Partnership Redefine Its Experiential Marketing and Brand Narrative?

• In September 2025, Starbucks announced it will be the Official Coffee Partner of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA, supporting athletes and fans with unique coffeehouse activations and exclusive partnerships with NBCUniversal for national coverage.
• This partnership highlights Starbucks’ focus on elevating brand presence through high-profile collaborations while emphasizing community connection and experiential marketing as core business priorities.
• We’ll examine how Starbucks’ alignment with the LA28 Games and a sharpened focus on experiential service offerings may influence the company’s investment outlook.

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Starbucks Investment Narrative Recap

At its core, investing in Starbucks means believing the brand can revitalize growth by improving the customer experience and capitalizing on global brand power. The LA28 Olympics partnership signals a push for stronger visibility and high-profile marketing, but it does not fundamentally shift the near-term catalysts or risks, ongoing margin pressures, slow same-store sales, and execution of the “Back to Starbucks” strategy remain front and center for investors evaluating the outlook.

The most relevant recent announcement is the continued rollout of food and menu innovations, such as expanded protein and gluten-free options, designed to support higher ticket sales and fresh demand alongside experiential partnerships. This approach ties into efforts to improve transaction growth and profitability, which could be significant if operational efficiency translates to financial gains.

However, offsetting these efforts, investors should not overlook how rising labor and input costs could continue to pressure margins if...

Read the full narrative on Starbucks (it's free!)

Starbucks' narrative projects $45.5 billion revenue and $4.6 billion earnings by 2028. This requires 7.5% yearly revenue growth and a $2.0 billion earnings increase from $2.6 billion today.

Uncover how Starbucks' forecasts yield a $99.38 fair value, a 18% upside to its current price.

Exploring Other Perspectives

Twenty-three individual members of the Simply Wall St Community place fair value estimates for Starbucks stock between US$49.65 and US$110 per share. Despite this spread of opinion, many still see pressure on profit margins as a key factor influencing the company’s performance in the quarters ahead, so consider several viewpoints before forming your stance.

Explore 23 other fair value estimates on Starbucks - why the stock might be worth 41% less than the current price!

Build Your Own Starbucks Narrative

Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

• A great starting point for your Starbucks research is our analysis highlighting 1 key reward and 4 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.
• Our free Starbucks research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate Starbucks' overall financial health at a glance.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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