Jim Cramer Says He's a 'Buyer' of Starbucks (SBUX) Amid 'Faith' in CEO Brian Niccol

We recently published a list of Top 10 Stocks to Watch as Investors Brace for Recession. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) stands against other top stocks to watch as investors brace for recession.

Despite some optimism in the market after President Donald Trump’s indication of possible talks with China, Wall Street analysts are warning about recession risks due to the impending impact of tariffs and an overall decline in consumer sentiment.

Adam Parker, Trivariate Research CEO, said in a recent interview with CNBC that it’s “hard” to be bullish in this market because the impact of tariffs is yet to be reflected in companies’ earnings.

Parker thinks that in the coming days, earnings reports of many companies will begin to show that we are indeed facing an economic slowdown:

“You know there’s a difference between a growth scare and and then an actual growth slowdown I think in this case it is a growth slowdown I don’t know how much of it is yet and that’s where I think the challenge is but you can’t just say oh it’s an irrational growth scare that everyone has and it’s like an uncertain I think if you have a business with pricing power if you have a business that you know you can be okay. But there’s a lot of economically sensitive businesses we’re going to hear from next week and the week after if you think about how earning season typically unfolds where we may get guidance that isn’t quite as peachy as we’ve seen from you know the original guys in the banks and then some of the higher quality tech companies have reported.”

READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.

For this article, we picked 10 stocks Wall Street is currently buzzing about. With each company, we have mentioned its hedge fund sentiment. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 76

Jim Cramer was recently asked about Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX). He reiterated his bullish view on the stock despite China-related concerns:

“We bought some for the Charitable Trust at great price, we let it go up, we sold some, we did not sell enough. Sometimes that happens. People think that the Chinese business is going to be written down badly if they try to sell it. I have so much faith in Brian Niccol. I am a buyer of Starbucks at $83.”

ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“Drilling further down, we have been engaging with management teams of portfolio companies with production outside the U.S. to understand supply change fungibility and the ability to pass through costs to end customers. We are specifically monitoring risks to the consumer sector from tariffs because consumers have already borne the burden of several years of cost inflation pressuring wallets and some areas of spending, like dining outside the home, have easy substitutes. That said, beverage holdings Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) and Monster both held up well during the quarter. Starbucks is undergoing an earnings reset under new CEO Brian Nicoll that is being well received by investors. Monster, meanwhile, benefited from price increases and strength in its international business.”

Overall, SBUX ranks 6th on our list of top stocks to watch as investors brace for recession. While we acknowledge the potential of SBUX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than SBUX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.