Starbucks’ total net revenues were $37.2B in fiscal 2025 (year to 28 Sep 2025), up 2.8%: $30.7B from company-operated stores, $4.4B from licensed stores and $2.1B of other revenue. Revenue is 3.6ร fiscal 2008’s but has grown only 3.4% since fiscal 2023. In Q3 fiscal 2026 revenue was $9.3B, -1.4%, after China moved to a licensed model.
How we source: figures on this page come from the company’s own filings (SEC 10-K, 10-Q and earnings releases, or its annual report), with the period stated next to each number. Last refreshed October 2026. Our methodology.
Starbucks revenue rose 3%; its operating profit fell 46%. Source: Starbucks Form 10-K, fiscal 2025 (year to 28 Sep 2025) and earlier 10-Ks, SEC EDGAR: income statement, segment operating margins, store operating expenses, Green Apron Service Model; Q3 FY2026 earnings release (29 Jul 2026): North America and U.S. comparable sales, transactions, operating margin, Channel Development. Ratios calculated. Columns to scale. Analysis by The Business Engineer.
Fiscal year
Revenue
Change*
FY2025
$37.2B
+2.8%
FY2024
$36.2B
+0.6%
FY2023
$36.0B
+11.6%
FY2022
$32.3B
+11.0%
FY2021
$29.1B
+23.6%
FY2020
$23.5B
-11.3%
FY2019
$26.5B
+7.2%
FY2018
$24.7B
+10.4%
FY2017
$22.4B
+5.0%
FY2016
$21.3B
+11.2%
FY2015
$19.2B
+16.5%
FY2014
$16.4B
+10.4%
FY2013
$14.9B
+12.0%
FY2012
$13.3B
+13.7%
FY2011
$11.7B
+9.3%
FY2010
$10.7B
+9.5%
FY2009
$9.8B
-5.9%
Source: Starbucks 10-K filings via SEC EDGAR XBRL (latest 10-K). Fiscal years end late September. *Calculated.
Own stores. 83% of revenue is the full sales of the 21,514 stores Starbucks runs itself, so traffic and ticket in those stores drive the total.
North America. The segment brought in $27.4B, 74% of revenue; International $7.8B and Channel Development (packaged coffee) $1.9B (10-K).
Licensing. Licensed stores pay Starbucks for product and royalties ($4.4B); with China now licensed, more of the system’s sales will be booked this way, lowering reported revenue.
What to watch
China: retail moved to a licensed joint venture in Q3 fiscal 2026, so most stores are now licensed (27,691 of 41,304) (Q3 fiscal 2026 release).
Traffic: global comparable sales +7.9% in Q3 FY26.
Margin: 10.5% operating margin in Q3 FY26 vs 7.9% for FY25.
Earlier analysis and background (pre-2026 figures)
The text below is the earlier version of this page. Its figures refer to earlier periods and some were corrected above; the current, sourced figures are in the sections above.
S
Starbucks Revenue
SBUX · FY2024
$36.2B
Total Revenue (FY2024)
+0.6% YoY
FY2020
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
FY2024
New CEO Brian Niccol (from Chipotle, Sept 2024) is implementing a turnaround strategy focused on reducing wait times and restoring the coffeehouse experience.
Correction (10 Oct 2026): an earlier section on this page showed unsourced figures; it has been removed.
In 2023, Starbucks generated nearly $36 billion, compared to over $32.2 billion in 2022, $29 billion in 2021 and over $23.5 billion in 2020. Most of the revenue in 2023 came from owned stores ($29.46 billion) compared to franchised stores ($4.51 billion) and other revenue sources ($2 billion), which comprise revenue coming from the Global Coffee Alliance and ready-to-drink business.
Starbucks follows a heavy-chained strategy, which means that in the long run, the company might try to have most of its stores company-operated.
In 2023, Starbucks operated 19,592vs. 18,253 licensed stores. Starbucks leverages primarily company-operated stores to keep tight control over product development, branding, distribution, and customer experience. It also leverages licensed stores for better amplification of brand, revenue, and profits.
Indeed, while the company still has a good chunk of its stores as licensed stores, the company-operated stores are the ones that contribute most to Starbucks’ revenue.
Starbucks follows a chain business model strategy, where most of its revenue comes from its owned stores. For instance, in 2023, with nearly $36 billion in revenue, most of the revenue came from owned stores ($29.46 billion) compared to franchised stores ($4.51 billion) and other revenue sources ($2 billion). Yet owned stores have higher operational costs compared to franchised stores.
This is the opposite strategy compared to McDonald’s.
McDonald’s and Starbucks sit in the opposite spectrum of retail business models. Indeed, whereas McDonald’s follows a heavily franchised businessmodel, Starbucks follows a heavy-chained one.
As an example, on the opposite spectrum, McDonald’s follows a heavy-franchised strategy, where in the long-run, the company will have most of its stores as franchise operations.
Starbucks’ main individual shareholder is Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks. Major institutional shareholders comprise BlackRock, with 7.18%, and The Vanguard Group, with 8.6% ownership. Starbucks follows a heavy-chained businessmodel, where the company-operated stores play a critical role in the company’s long-term strategy, compared to McDonald’s heavy-franchised businessmodel, where the long-term plan is to have over 95% of the stores as franchising.
Starbucks is a retail company that sells beverages (primarily consisting of coffee-related drinks) and food. In 2023, Starbucks had 44% of company-operated stores vs. 56% of licensed stores which might make you think Starbucks is a franchise business, when in reality most of its revenue (nearly 82% in 2023) came from company-operated stores, thus making Starbucks a chain businessmodel.
Starbucks follows a chain business model strategy, where most of its revenue comes from its owned stores. For instance, in 2023, with nearly $36 billion in revenue, most of the revenue came from owned stores ($29.46 billion) compared to franchised stores ($4.51 billion) and other revenue sources ($2 billion). Yet owned stores have higher operational costs compared to franchised stores.
Starbucks follows a chain businessmodel, building its brand through its owned stores.โAnd its owned stores are also where most of the revenue is generated.โIn addition, the owned stores are a great asset to keep experimenting with new products while maintaining tight control over the customer experience.
In 2023, Starbucks operated 19,592vs. 18,253 licensed stores. Starbucks leverages primarily company-operated stores to keep tight control over product development, branding, distribution, and customer experience. It also leverages licensed stores for better amplification of brand, revenue, and profits.
Starbucks made 60% of its revenue, in 2023, from beverages, followed by other revenue, which accounted for 22% of the total revenue (that comprises packaged and single-serve coffees and teas, plus royalty and licensing revenues, beverage-related ingredients, serve ware, and ready-to-drink beverages, among other items.) and food, which accounted for 18% of the total sales in 2023.
Starbucks’s mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit โ one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” And its vision is to โtreat people like family, and they will be loyal and give their all.โ
Starbucks is a multinational coffee chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker in 1971. From a single and very humble bean roasting store in Pike Place Market, the company is now a global giant operating over 37,711 stores around the world. This large global footprint obviously increases the competition for Starbucks in many different markets. The coffee industry itself is also highly competitive, with established players including McDonaldโs and Dunkinโ Donuts.
Starbucks follows a matrix organizational structure with a combination of vertical and horizontal structures. It is characterized by multiple overlapping chains of command and divisions.
McDonald’s and Starbucks sit in the opposite spectrum of retail business models. Indeed, whereas McDonald’s follows a heavily franchised businessmodel, Starbucks follows a heavy-chained one.
Starbucks highlights its mission as “to inspire and nurture the human spirit โ one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” And its vision is to โtreat people like family, and they will be loyal and give their all.โ
Starbucks is a global consumer brand with direct distribution, recognized brands, and products that make it a viable business. Its reliance on the Americas as a primary operating segment makes it a weakness. At the same time, Starbucks faces risks related to coffee beans price volatility. Yet the company still has global expansion opportunities.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
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