Starbucks’ stock jumped by 3.33% in after-hours trading on Friday after reports that activist investor Starboard Value has taken a stake in the company.
The size of Starboard’s stake and hedge fund’s future plans still remain under wraps. However, investors took its involvement in Starbucks as a positive sign, sending the company’s shares from Friday’s close price of $75.09 to $77.59 per share.
Starbucks’ stock has slightly recovered from its steep fall in April but still remains 19.84% down year-to-date.
Starboard taking a stake in Starbucks comes at a time when the coffeehouse chain is already facing pressure from another activist investor, Elliott Management.
Back in July, Elliott disclosed that it owns a sizeable stake in Starbucks, while the company confirmed it is having ongoing discussions with the activist investor and that the agreement between the two sides could be reached soon. Elliott is reportedly asking for changes in the company’s management and is eyeing a seat on the board with a goal of recovering Starbucks’ stock.
At the moment, it is unclear whether Starboard will take the same path as Elliott. The two activist investors have previously been involved in several companies at the same time including online dating giant Match, e-commerce company eBay, and cloud-based software firm Salesforce.