Starbucks Holders Cheer Executives A Week After Stock Hits High

SEATTLE (AP)--A sold-out crowd Wednesday gave Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) Chairman Howard Schultz something you rarely see at a straight-laced shareholders meeting - many boisterous rounds of applause.

That wasn't surprising, given that Schultz opened Wednesday's shareholders meeting by boasting that the company's stock had soared to an all-time high on strong earnings the week before.

Starbucks shares rose 40 cents, or 1.2%, to close at $34.72 in trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market after hitting a new all-time high of $35 in intraday trading.

Schultz played to the crowd Wednesday, showing a slide noting that, since the company went public in 1992, share value had risen 6,400% - enough to turn a $ 10,000 investment into roughly $650,000. By comparison, the S&P 500 rose 211% during the same period.

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