Dunkin' ($DNKN) shares slipped Thursday, February 6, on a top-line miss, a bottom-line beat, and rising guidance and dividends for investors. It's another signal that the coffee chain is still playing catch-up to its bigger, Seattle-based competitor. 

The bad news for Dunkin' is that Starbucks' ($SBUX) share price has trounced Dunkin's consistently. Starbucks stock is up 24% over the last 12 months, and Dunkin shares are only up 12%. Don't even think about looking at a longer historical chart of the stocks. 

The good news is that, for Dunkin', its app is highly rated, better than 4.5-out-of-5, according to Thinknum Alternative Data (not shown), and, to top it off, its app also has a better rating than Starbucks'. Better still, its Apple ($AAPL) Store Ratings Count - picture above - also continues to rise. Still - again - Dunkin's app ratings tally is far lower than Starbucks'. 

However, that isn't the case in the Google Play store - there, Starbucks has the advantage, shown in our chart above. Because Dunkin' has far more user ratings accumulated in the Apple Store, this disparity may be less substantial, especially to Dunkin' shareholders.  

Dunkin' is integrating brands into its breakfast menu like Beyond Meat ($BYND), and still competing with Starbucks as it tries to keep up with the coffee-retail-arms-race into consumers' permanent habits. 

And, that's a trend that could continue - especially if Starbucks' prolonged China shutdown hampers hiring for the coffee brand.

About the Data:

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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