Jeff Sonnenfeld's Report Card on CEO Performance at Boeing, Nike and Starbucks

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 02, 2026 at 12:29  |  5:33  |  CNBC
Speakers
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld — Professor, Yale / Founder, CELI

Summary

CNBC interviews Yale School of Management professor Jeff Sonnenfeld about his CEO performance report card for Boeing and Starbucks, with Nike mentioned as another watchlist name. Sonnenfeld sees Boeing's new CEO Kelly Ortberg making operational, quality, regulatory, and integration progress, though he frames Boeing as promising rather than a runaway star. On Starbucks, he credits Brian Niccol with stabilizing China and improving service through Green Apron, but notes Luckin competition, a roughly two-year turnaround timeline, and coffee/tariff headwinds. The transcript ends during discussion of Brazil coffee tariffs; Nike is not substantively discussed.

  • Jeff Sonnenfeld evaluates CEOs at Boeing, Starbucks, and mentions Nike.
  • Boeing shows production and quality improvements under Kelly Ortberg.
  • Boeing backlog and regulatory reset are cited as positive turnaround signs.
  • Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has stabilized China and improved service.
  • Luckin Coffee competition and coffee tariffs remain Starbucks challenges.
  • Sonnenfeld frames the names as watchlist candidates, not superstar picks.
  • Nike is mentioned but not detailed in the available transcript.
Ideas
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld Professor, Yale / Founder, CELI 0:56
Boeing CEO turnaround drives operational improvement
Boeing is a promising CEO-turnaround watchlist name under Kelly Ortberg. Ortberg knows the aerospace and engineering space from Texas Instruments and Rockwell Collins; production momentum has improved to 537 aircraft from about 348; quality defects are down 30%; regulatory trust is being rebuilt with inspectors embedded on the line; the Spirit AeroSystems reintegration is closing a past strategic mistake; and Boeing has a large backlog of roughly 1,000 planes, about $620 billion of revenue, and 11 years of orders. Sonnenfeld still frames it as a watchlist name rather than a runaway superstar.
BA HIGH
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld Professor, Yale / Founder, CELI 3:00
Starbucks CEO stabilizes China; turnaround incomplete
Starbucks is a CEO-turnaround watchlist name. Brian Niccol has stabilized the China bleed, though Luckin Coffee has surpassed Starbucks in China market share with a low-cost, technology-based model and remains a tough competitor; a local private-equity partnership with about a 60% stake helps local-market sensitivity. The Green Apron service initiative is a success, shortening in-store order-to-coffee time to four minutes and improving the barista/customer experience. Prior Starbucks turnarounds take around two years and Niccol is just over a year in; coffee-price and Brazil tariff headwinds had been a challenge before tariffs were lifted. Progress is real, but the turnaround is not complete.
SBUX HIGH
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This CNBC video, published January 02, 2026, features Jeffrey Sonnenfeld discussing BA, SBUX. 2 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Jeffrey Sonnenfeld  · Tickers: BA, SBUX