The Wall Street Journal
Why Starbucks Went Cold Turkey on Buybacks
Starbucks shareholders were feeling jittery. On the first day of his third stint as chief executive of the coffee juggernaut, is attempting a delicate balancing act: Facing rising cost and wage pressures, a unionization effort, and a serious slowdown in China, its largest foreign market, he has taken a step to conserve cash while simultaneously signaling concern for workers. The company on Monday said it was eliminating an ambitious buyback program that was set to return $20 billion to shareholders over three years.
