Is Starbucks (SBUX) Stock Halal? Shariah Screen Explained
Is Starbucks (SBUX) halal? As of 2026-09-22 it passes ZadVest’s Shariah screen. See the business, debt, cash and 5% income tests, with sources. Informational, not certified advice.
Starbucks (SBUX) passes ZadVest’s Shariah screen as of 2026-09-22. This is an informational software result, not a fatwa, certification or investment advice.
The result as of 2026-09-22
Starbucks (SBUX) passes ZadVest’s Shariah screen. The result combines three separate tests based on AAOIFI Shari’ah Standard No. 21: what the company does, how much interest-bearing debt and cash it carries, and how much of its income comes from impermissible sources. A company passes only when the business and ratio screens pass and no impermissible-income breach is identified; missing evidence never counts as a pass.
Screening results change as companies file new reports and as prices move. The current result for SBUX is shown live on its Shariah card in the ZadVest app.
Screen 1: business activity
The first screen asks what the company does. AAOIFI Shari’ah Standard No. 21 permits dealing in a company’s shares “if the activity of the corporation is permissible” (clause 3/2), and names interest-based finance, liquor and pork as prohibited objectives. ZadVest reads the company’s industry classification (for Starbucks: Restaurants, Consumer Cyclical) and its business description against a published list of prohibited activities.
Neither the classification nor the business description matched a prohibited activity, so the business-activity screen passes.
Screen 2: debt, cash and receivables
The second screen measures how much of the company’s value is tied to interest. Clause 3/4/2 of the AAOIFI standard allows interest-bearing debt up to 30% of market capitalization, and clause 3/4/3 applies the same 30% to interest-bearing cash and deposits. ZadVest also applies a receivables limit, which comes from index-provider practice rather than from an AAOIFI clause. The figures below are as of 2026-09-18.
Interest-bearing debt to market capitalization: 13.8% against a 30% limit — within the limit.
Cash and interest-bearing securities to market capitalization: 1.6% against a 30% limit — within the limit.
Accounts receivable to market capitalization: 1.2% against a 33% limit — within the limit.
Screen 3: impermissible income
The third screen asks what share of income comes from impermissible sources, such as interest earned on cash. Clause 3/4/4 sets the ceiling at 5% of total income. Company filings rarely separate every such amount, so ZadVest publishes a range: a floor of income identified in the filings, and a ceiling that also counts what could not be ruled out. Only a floor above the 5% limit fails a company; a ceiling that cannot be bounded keeps the result provisional.
No impermissible income was identified in Starbucks’s filings, but the filings do not break out every line (for example, interest earned on cash), so the upper end could not be bounded. This part of the screen is provisional rather than confirmed.
Result of the income screen: provisional. No breach was found, but the evidence is not complete enough to confirm the company is under the limit. Investors who hold the stock may still wish to purify dividends; ZadVest’s purification calculator can help estimate an amount.
Sources and evidence
Financial statement figures come from the company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (10-K and 10-Q reports, read through the SEC’s structured XBRL data), with market capitalization from market data. Industry classification and the business description come from a market-data provider.
Excerpts from the standard applied — AAOIFI Shari’ah Standard No. 21, clause 3/4/2: interest-bearing debt “does not exceed 30% of the market capitalization of the corporation, knowingly that raising loans on interest is prohibited whatsoever the amount is.” Clause 3/4/4: prohibited income “does not exceed 5% of the total income of the corporation.”
How each income figure was built for Starbucks: interest income estimated from reported cash (an upper-bound estimate); a flagged business line whose revenue share is not disclosed separately. An estimate (for example, interest assumed on reported cash) can only widen the upper end of the range; it never lowers a figure found in the filings.
Not certified advice
This is an informational screening result produced by software. It is not a fatwa, not a certification by a Shariah board, and not investment, legal or tax advice. Scholars and screening providers can reach different conclusions on the same company. Consult a qualified scholar before making any investment decision.