Starbucks CEO gets roasted for $9 ‘premium experience’ remarks, but Wall Street toasts his tariff-era turnaround strategy

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is living in two realities this week. On social media, he’s become the latest corporate executive to be branded “out of touch” after calling a $9 purchase a “really affordable premium experience.” On Wall Street, he just delivered the quarter that investors had been waiting more than two years for.

Speaking on the Wall Street Journal’s What’s News AM podcast, Niccol was asked how the coffee chain is navigating the K-shaped economy: the growing gap between high-income and low-income Americans. He said Starbucks is “doing really well with Gen Z and millennials, and then really had strong performance across all income cohorts,” and noted that the average customer spend comes in at just under ten dollars.

“In some cases, you know, a $9 experience does feel like you’re splurging. And then, what that means is we have to make it worthwhile, right?” he said on the podcast. “And then in other cases, certain people believe, ‘Well, this is a really affordable premium experience.’ Because they’re saying like, ‘Well it’s less than $10 and I get a really premium experience.’”

Niccol pointed out that though a traditional cup of coffee starts at around $3, customers can “build your way into all sorts of customized drinks that people love that move that ticket up.” Add in food and other add-...