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In premarket trading, IBM shares fell by about 3%, ServiceNow shares by 3.5%, and Salesforce shares by 4%.
According to Bloomberg, Starbucks is developing its own inventory management and maintenance tools, which could serve as an alternative to Microsoft and IBM software. If testing is successful, the company plans to roll out some of the new solutions by the end of next year.
Starbucks spends about $400 million annually on software and is currently reviewing all its technology contracts as part of a $2 billion cost-cutting program.
The company’s Chief Technology Officer, Anand Varadarajan, previously told employees that Starbucks has “obvious opportunities” to reduce software costs. Internal company documents show that the technology division plans to cut its budget by approximately $30 million in the current fiscal year, including about $10 million in software savings.
In addition, Starbucks has been developing its own sales management system for several years, which is intended to replace the Oracle Symphony solution.
Starbucks’ move has heightened concerns among investors across the sector: large companies are increasingly considering developing their own AI tools instead of purchasing off-the-shelf solutions from software developers. This is putting additional pressure on the stocks of software companies, which are already facing growing competition from artificial intelligence technologies.
