Shares of Starbucks Corp. (SBUX, Financial), the leading global specialty coffee platform (that’s right!), rose 6% in the third quarter after delivering another quarter of industry-leading sales and earnings growth. Same store sales growth at company-owned cafes accelerated to 7% during the quarter, driven by growth in emerging markets and key merchandising and marketing initiatives. With the core in-store beverage business as strong as ever, we believe Starbucks is just scratching the surface of its opportunities in food, mobile payment and loyalty programs, Asia-Pacific expansion and wholesale channel development. Starbucks continues to be one of our stalwart investments.
From Baron Funds' Fifth Avenue Growth Fund 3rd quarter 2015 commentary.
