The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, March 19, edition that RBC analyst Logan Reich has moved his recommendation for Starbucks to "sector perform" from "outperform." The Globe's Darcy Keith writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Reich has an unchanged $105 share target (all figures U.S.). Analysts on average target the shares at $99.94. Mr. Reich says in a note: "When we assumed coverage in November, 2024 at 'outperform' a key aspect of our thesis was relatively small/temporary investments were required to turn around the U.S. business. That did not materialize given ongoing labour and additional future investments which makes it tougher to justify the 'outperform,' so we move to the sidelines." He provided three key points for the downgrade: "1) Permanent labour investments plus net cost savings over next three years are smaller than we previously anticipated, implying further investments required; 2) improvements to U.S. top-line growth are well-appreciated; and 3) stock is trading near peak historical multiple."