2-Star Stocks Poised to Plunge: Starbucks?

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 140,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, specialty coffee giant Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) has received a distressing two-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Starbucks' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Starbucks facts

Headquarters (Founded)	Seattle, Wash. (1985)
Market Cap	$14.79 billion
Industry	Restaurants
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$9.87 billion
Management	Founder/CEO Howard Schultz CFO Troy Alstead
Revenue and Net Income Growth (Over Past Year)	(4.3%) and (47.5%)
Cash / Debt	$336.7 million / $549.8 million
Price-to-Earnings (SBUX and S&P 500)	60.4 and 18.4
Competitors	McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) Tim Hortons (NYSE: THI)
CAPS Members Bearish on SBUX Also Bearish on	Ford (NYSE: F) Citigroup (NYSE: C) Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)
CAPS Members Bullish on SBUX Also Bullish on	Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 23.5% of the 7,375 members who have rated Starbucks believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include BearTill2012 and All-Star JakilaTheHunII, who is ranked in the top 15% of our community.

Just last month, BearTill2012 persuaded Fools to perk up to the macro perspective: "Unemployment is climbing faster than the government will admit, and consumer credit is contracting. Neither of these conditions bodes well for a premium coffee house like Starbucks."

In an earlier pitch, JakilaTheHunII also taps the stock as increasingly untrendy. Here's an excerpt:

I can't help but to think that Starbucks has some rough treading ahead. They've reached the limits of expansion, and now, they have to deal with K-cups, too; not to mention the fact that fast food industry powerhouse McDonald's is trying to mimic the [Starbucks] formula. ...

The main reason people continue to buy in is based on the "good company" premise. Honestly, I've never been convinced that [Starbucks] was ever anything more than a(n admittedly long-lasting) trend. They aren't going away, but I can't see them growing like crazy in the future.

All in all, the trends are working against [Starbucks], we're in a difficult consumer environment, they market expensive products, and the stock looks rather pricey.

What do you think about Starbucks, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!