NOMnuts - August 20, 2012

In a press release, Brian Brown is claiming credit for the decline of Starbucks' shares:  National Organization for Marriage Announces Success of Starbucks Protest. NOM goes on to claim a massive loss which, of course, is a reduction in total market value.

The notion that NOM is responsible for Starbucks' declining shares price is patently absurd:

In point of fact, for the quarter ended July 1, Starbucks reported record results with net income increasing more than 19% over the same period last year. In round numbers, they reported profits of $500 million on sales of $3.3 billion.

Does anyone really believe that a few fundamentalists are really going to make a dent in $3.3 billion in sales? Indeed, NOM's little protest began in March and Starbucks reported a sales increase of 13% for the quarter beginning April 1.

Starbucks did reduce their projected growth rate going forward which accounts for the decline in stock value. NOM is irrelevant.