My wife and I are Starbucks people.
Not in the “I need my venti triple-shot caramel macchiato to function” way, but in the “this is our road trip stop of choice” way. We’ve racked up enough points over the years to feel financially responsible about our habit, and Starbucks (SBUX) has consistently impressed us with how it updates its menu to stay trendy and relatively healthy.
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It’s not a health food store by any means, but it makes us feel a lot better than a gas station run. (Though we’ll never turn down a Buc-ee’s when the opportunity presents itself.)
Here’s the problem: for years, we’ve loved being Starbucks customers but refused to become Starbucks shareholders.
According to Peter Lynch, I’m making a mistake. You’re supposed to invest in what you know. We know Starbucks. We use Starbucks. We watch Gen Z flock to their Refreshers and see them constantly evolve their food offerings. But the stock has been hammered for years, and watching a company you love underperform the market while you’re actively giving them money is a special kind of painful.
But 2026 is different. Starbucks is up more than 22% year-to-date, and while multiple factors are driving the turnaround, I think we can point to one unexpected catalyst: Khloé Kardashian’s popcorn.
The Khloud Factor
When the influencer’s Khloud protein popcorn landed in Starbucks snack cases in January, it didn’t seem like a big deal. Just another celebrity food product trying to cash in on name recognition.
But according to a Los Angeles Times report published Thursday, sales of Khloud’s kettle corn flavor nearly doubled on Amazon (AMZN) in the month following its Starbucks debut. Performance picked up at Target (TGT) stores too. The brand has now added a second flavor, white cheddar, to Starbucks shelves.
Dana Pellicano, Starbucks’ senior vice president of global product experience, explained the snack strategy to Bloomberg: customers during…
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