Squawk on the Street · Oct 30, 2026 · 4 min
With Brian Niccol, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks
Photo via Wikimedia Commons (Phi Delta Theta, CC BY 2.0)
Starbucks has stretched its busiest stretch of the day from three hours to four. Brian Niccol, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, told Jim Cramer on CNBC's Squawk on the Street that the fiscal fourth quarter shows the turnaround is over and a growth plan has taken its place.
Other food chains are worried that GLP-1 weight-loss drugs will cut into what customers eat. Brian's case is that Starbucks won the quarter on basic store operations, not on a new product, and that its protein-forward food suits those customers too.
"These results were driven by us operating the fundamentals well." — Brian Niccol
As chairman and chief executive, Brian is the one declaring the turnaround finished, and he presented this quarter as the first of the growth plan.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 4 moments that matter.
Key Takeaways
Brian says the Starbucks turnaround is over and the company is now running a growth plan
The morning peak has gone from 3 hours to 4, and the afternoon is next
Food is selling alongside drinks, with pastries and breakfast sandwiches added to orders
Starbucks does not see GLP-1 drugs as a threat to its food, because its new items are protein-forward and snackable
1. From Turnaround to Growth
Jim opened by telling Brian that Starbucks had changed category in investors' eyes.
Jim Cramer told Brian that Starbucks now trades like a growth company
"You are now running a high-class growth stock." — Jim Cramer
Brian accepted the framing. He said the turnaround phase is finished and that Starbucks is now carrying out a growth plan, with the fiscal fourth quarter as the evidence.
"We think it was a terrific quarter." — Brian Niccol
