starbucks financial ratio analysis

.....K, which is for the year ended October 2, 2016. This was used because many ratios are compared on an annual basis -- a quarterly report would yield different numbers. The first section is the liquidity ratios. These reveal the short-term health of Starbucks. The basic liquidity measure is the current ratio, which is the current assets over current liabilities. Starbucks, at 1.05, is at the industry average, and 1.05 is a generally healthy number. The quick ratio removes inventories.

This is valuable in some industries where inventories may end up unsold or sold at a discount. For Starbucks, whose inventories are largely coffee, cups and other things that will be sold, this measure is less useful. Starbucks has a quick ratio of 0.74, which is slightly lower than the industry average of 0.8, but close. The numbers are both below industry average and both worse than last year, but still healthy overall.

The only issue here is that these go along with a spike in accounts receivable, indicating that Starbucks' customers are taking longer to pay them, affecting Starbucks' liquidity. The asset management ratios highlight how well the company turns its assets in revenue. Inventory turnover reflects how quickly inventory is turned -- a higher number means better throughput. Starbucks, which generally carries at least a two years' supply of coffee as a hedge against fluctuating commodity prices, has a low inventory turn.

At 6.17, this is much lower than the industry average of 21.5, but most industry comparables' inventories are food, much more perishable, which demands a high rate of turnover. No industry average for receivables turn could be found. Starbucks does 27.7 times per year, down from the previous year. Still, this is a very healthy number. The debt ratios reflect long-term solvency. Starbucks has a moderate debt ratio of 59%, meaning that it carries a reasonable amount of leverage but not an unusual amount. The industry average is 60%.

However, an industry average could be found for the debt-to-equity ratio, and that was 9.74. Starbucks has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.4, which is much lower. This indicates that Starbucks has much lower debt on its books than most firms in the industry, a positive indicator for long-run solvency. Its times interest earned is much better than the industry average, because it has lower debt than the industry norm. The profitability ratios indicate how profitable the company is. Starbucks has a gross margin of 60% and a net margin of 13%.

The gross margin is above industry norms, which are 45% and the net margin below the industry norm of 15%. This indicates that Starbucks has higher than normal non-operating costs that account for the difference. Its net margin is only slightly lower than the industry average, so while it is not quite as profitable as other quick service businesses, it is in the ballpark. The difference between its gross margin and the industry is that store operating expenses are not included in cost of sales on Starbucks' income statement.

If they were, the company's gross margin would be 31.3%, substantially lower than industry norms, indicating that its corporate expenses are well below industry norms. Starbucks has a higher.