Dutch Bros (BROS 2.32%) is a fairly simple restaurant concept expanding into a niche with a lot of competition. Indeed, the coffee sector is hugely popular, with Starbucks (SBUX -0.96%) leading the pack. What Dutch Bros lacks in size, however, it makes up for in growth opportunity, if you can stand the ride. The stock has fallen by more than 33% from its 52-week highs and could be worth buying for more aggressive investors.
Dutch Bros has a big opportunity
Dutch Bros has a market cap of around $8 billion. It had just over 1,000 locations at the end of the second quarter of 2025, a bit over 700 of which were company-owned. It is not a small business by any stretch of the imagination.
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However, Dutch Bros is still modestly sized relative to the industry leaders in the coffee niche of the restaurant sector. The big name is Starbucks, which has over 41,000 locations and a market cap of $95 billion. To be fair, Starbucks is pretty stiff competition, given its name recognition and the loyalty its customers have shown to the company over the years. But this comparison point provides a look at the long-term opportunity that Dutch Bros has.
Some actual numbers will help. From a store count perspective, Starbucks is around 41 times larger than Dutch Bros. From a market cap perspective, Starbucks is nearly 12 times larger than Dutch Bros. There are actually two takeaways here to consider.
Even if Dutch Bros only expands its store base to a quarter of the size of Starbucks', there's still significant opportunity. It would mean going from roughly 1,000 locations to 10,000, a huge increase that would likely take a very long time to achieve. The market cap comparison, however, is a bit of a negative. Dutch Bros looks as if it is being afforded a premium price by investors, likely because of the expansion opportunity. The price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, which is roughly 4.5, supports that view, compared to around 2.6 for Starbucks.
Volatility is normal for growing companies
The lofty P/S ratio explains part of the stock volatility. The company's still-growing business is another factor. It isn't the least bit unusual for smaller, growing companies to experience extreme stock price swings over the short term, even as they continue to grow as a business. Mercurial investors have a habit of jumping in and out of stocks like Dutch Bros.
That said, the company is still plowing ahead with its growth plan. In the second quarter of 2025, it opened 31 new locations with the goal of bringing on a total of 160 shops in 2025. Year over year, the company grew its store base by 14%. Given the size of the business today, growth could be strong for a very long time. That assumes that the brand's popularity remains strong.
Sometimes fast-growing restaurants push too hard on growth and oversaturate their market. That was an issue a few years ago when Dutch Bros' same-store sales dipped into negative territory. However, that was actually a part of the company's plan at that point, as it was specifically expanding in areas it already served. It has changed gears, and same-store sales have remained strongly positive for over two years. In Q2 2025, the figure came in at 6.1%. This compares very favorably to Starbucks, which has suffered a same-store sales drop in each quarter so far in 2025.
Dutch Bros has plenty of opportunity
In other words, Dutch Bros is growing quickly, but it hasn't yet worn out its welcome with coffee lovers. If it can keep opening locations like it has been, there's likely to be a multi-year growth story ahead for the company. Dutch Bros won't be a good choice for conservative investors. It also isn't cheap, so value investors will probably want to stay away. But investors who are focused on growth may want to do a deep dive today. The current drawdown could be an opportunity to get into an expanding business that's still in the early stages of growth.
