Caribou Coffee Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBOU)

Rapidly growing coffee house that I've noticed is very popular in the Midwest. They have more choices of coffee than Starbucks and in many cases taste better too.

Weak earnings and Balance Sheet.

Something is broken with this company. They just can't make a buck. Their coffee is really good, but they just aren't as big as SBUX. Maybe more market penetration would lead to a better bottom line, but for now they are as frozen as an iced coffee.

Starbucks #1 coffee chain with more than 10k stores. Caribou #2 with 423 stores. While their financials have been less than stellar, we believe there is room to grow. Plus this gives our portfolio a much needed small cap stock.

People don't like coffee nearly as much as they like guns when they deal with Caribou. This chain just doesn't and can't compete with larger chains like Starbucks and Panera.

Taking the world by storm! Have you been there? Their coffee is great, the atmosphere steller. Move over Starbucks, there is a herd of Caribou comin' by! (I didn't even check the fundamentals on this one -- I just have that gut level feel!)

Great execution by the management. CEO knows what the company needs. He also owns about 5 percent, and keeps buying more and more at lows.

The investors do not seem to relate with the Caribou Coffee Company’s mission to create an experience that makes the day better. Based on the number of units in operation, the company is the second largest company-owned gourmet coffeehouse operator in the US. Caribou has a total of 432 coffeehouses in operation, including 16 licensed and 416 company-owned units that are heavily concentrated in Minnesota and Illinois. In addition to high-quality specialty coffee and espresso-based beverages, the company offers specialty teas, baked products, branded merchandise and related items.

The company has been incurring losses in each of the last three fiscal years and in all but for two years since their inception in 1992. The company has shown an increase in the revenue but that is mainly attributable to the increase in the number of new stores and the comparable store sales was negative 1% for quarter ended October 2006. The company has been incurring significant operating expenses to grow their business and the number of coffeehouses. To achieve profitability, the company has to increase their sales much more than the expense, which looks far from achievable.

Looking at the fierce competition in the industry and the poor performance of the company since the past several years the company is not expected to fair well in the future. The management is also maintaining its conservative outlook for the future performance of the company. It is expected that the Caribou Coffee Company is going to underperform in the coming months and leave a bitter taste for its stockholders.

Room for growth, good locations/real estate, joint venture with Coca Cola, other cobranding (retail/restaurant) possibly in the works.

Just going on personal experience and taste here, but all of Caribou's drinks and food taste 10 times better than the crap that they serve at Starbucks.

new yummy yummy coffee bars

There is enough room for two in this business. Caribou Coffee is a a great alternative to a hippie Starbucks. The product is better, roasted in small batches and they have great Emerging market exposure in the Middle East.

Better (smoother) product than Starbucks, served with less attitude. This chain can only grow into more areas of the country. This stock is now where Starbucks was 10 years ago (in a handful of states).

Selling coffee and comfort caribou has a unique brand. Selling new franchises will help grow the brand. I believe this will help increase same store sales. Free Wifi and bagels may help also.

its overpriced

Licenseing added. More stores are opening.

View seems pessamistic on CBOU from the Fool kingdom. I'm concerned about the cash burn resulting from opening new stores. Seems like it should be difficult to lose money in a coffee business. Hopefully a gradual slowdown in the store buildout can generate some nice positive bottom line growth.

I've been wary of Starbucks meteoric rise the past two years. I just can't get excited about a company that sells coffee. It reminds me of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. You have to sell a lot of coffee and doughnuts to pay these expensive leases and overhead. I know, I know Starbucks has been doing it but the long lines won't last forever. More and more people are coming to realize they are paying an outrageous price for a cup of coffee that you can now make at home for about 1/20 the price. Back to Caribou. Caribou can't hold a candle to Starbucks. They don't have the ambiance of Starbucks or the long lines. They picked a bad time to go public.

Refreshingly less pretentious than Starbucks. Its stores are attractively designed and comfortable, and it makes a pretty good cup of coffee, too. But there's just no way it can compete with Starbucks. I'm afraid Caribou is going to be a java also-ran.