Coffee Stocks: Are These Profits on a Caffeine High?

Updated

Coffee prices have gone up 410% since early 2002, hitting all-time highs this May. That increase should come as no surprise to the large number of coffee drinkers who feel the need for at least one cup to get through the day.

CNBC reports the $30-billion industry serves over 400 million cups of caffeinated goodness every day in the United States alone.

A report from Dunkin' Donuts in partnership with Career Builder concluded that among 2,741 professionals, 24 percent drink at least one cup per day, 61 percent of whom drank two or more per day. The drink is also among the most actively traded commodities in the world.

"The survey also reveals that those who need coffee the most are scientists/lab technicians, marketing/public relations professionals and education administrators (financial professionals rank tenth on the list)."

Coffee stocks have also shown impressive growth in recent years despite the economic slowdown and market volatility.

In light of that, we list below five major coffee stocks that have seen very significant levels of growth in the last year.

Do you think these stocks have more growth to cash in on? (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)

1. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NAS: GMCR) : Market cap of $14.23B. Price as of 10/03 at $87.01. Share prices are up 214.31% since last year. It owns the Keurig brand of single-cup brewing systems. It produces and sells ground coffee for its Keurig K-Cup system, as well as for more traditional packaging and sales (ie, ground coffee for traditional coffee makers). The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 13.22% (equivalent to 5.15 days of average volume). After a solid performance over the last year, GMCR has pulled back during recent sessions. The stock is -18.02% below its SMA20 and -14.04% below its SMA50, but remains 22.99% above its SMA200. The stock has performed poorly over the last month, losing 11.27%.

2. Coffee Holding Co. (NYS: JVA) : Market cap of $41.72M. Price as of 10/03 at $7.45. Share prices are up 87.25% since last year. It is an integrated wholesale coffee roaster and dealer. Its coffee brands include S&W Premium, Café Caribe, Café Supremo, Via Roma, Don Manuel, Fifth Avenue, and Entenmann's Coffee. This is a risky stock that is significantly more volatile than the overall market (beta = 2.11). The stock is currently stuck in a downtrend, trading -49.81% below its SMA20, -55.78% below its SMA50, and -25.03% below its SMA200. It's been a rough couple of days for the stock, losing 38.4% over the last week.

3. Peet's Coffee & Tea (NAS: PEET) : Market cap of $718.31M. Price as of 10/03 at $53.19. Share prices are up 63.94% since last year. It is a specialty coffee roaster and marketer of fresh roasted whole bean coffee and tea. It distributes its coffee through grocery stores, home delivery, office, restaurant and food service accounts and Company-owned and operated stores in six states. The stock is a short squeeze candidate, with a short float at 18.97% (equivalent to 13.01 days of average volume).

4. Starbucks (NAS: SBUX) : Market cap of $27.82B. Price as of 10/03 at $36.44. Share prices are up 45.95% since last year. Starbucks operates in more than 50 countries under the Starbucks, Tazo Tea, and Seattle's Best brands. The stock has gained 45.95% over the last year.

5. Caribou Coffee (NAS: CBOU) : Market cap of $245.15M. Price as of 10/03 at $10.62. Share prices are up 12.46% since last year. It operates Caribou Coffee coffeehouses in the US and around the world. It also sells its coffees through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, club stores, office coffee and foodservice providers, hotels, entertainment venues and e-commerce channels. It also sells its blended coffees and licenses its brand to Keurig, for sale and use in its K-Cup single serve line of business. It's been a rough couple of days for the stock, losing 5.44% over the last week.

Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.


Kapitall's Rebecca Lipman does not own any of the shares mentioned above. Data sourced from Finviz.

At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Starbucks. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Starbucks. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a lurking gator position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended shorting Peet's Coffee & Tea. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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