Companies · Puzzle #13 · Monday, October 12
Companies: the board
Eight items, eight categories, one place each. Here is the board with every figure and where it comes from, and the best way to place them. Play today's Companies.
The categories
- Profit margin: 1 pt per 3% margin, last year
- Workforce: 1.5 pts per doubling over 2,500 staff, at year end
- California HQ: 10 pts if based in California
- Assets: 1.5 pts per doubling over $3B, at year end
- Growth: 1 pt per 2.5% sales growth, last year
- Buybacks: 1 pt per doubling over $10M, last year
- Sales: 1.5 pts per doubling over $1.5B, last year
- Inventory: 1.5 pts per doubling over $100M, at year end
The best board
- Robinhood in California HQ: headquartered in Menlo Park, CA (10.0)
- Eli Lilly in Growth: sales up 44.7% in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- GE Aerospace in Inventory: $11.9B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
- AbbVie in Assets: $134.0B in assets at the end of December 2025 (8.2)
- Costco in Workforce: 341,000 employees at the end of August 2025 (10.0)
- Home Depot in Sales: $164.7B in sales in the year to February 2026 (10.0)
- Charles Schwab in Profit margin: a 37.0% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Salesforce in Buybacks: $12.6B of its own stock bought back in the year to January 2026 (10.0)
The most this board could score: 78.2 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
Robinhood
Commission-free stock trading app
- Profit margin
- a 42.1% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Workforce
- 2,900 employees at the end of December 2025 (0.3) Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- California HQ
- headquartered in Menlo Park, CA (10.0) Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Assets
- $38.1B in assets at the end of December 2025 (5.5) Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Growth
- sales up 51.6% in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Buybacks
- $653M of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (6.0) Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Sales
- $4.5B in sales in the year to December 2025 (2.4) Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
Eli Lilly
Drugmaker behind Mounjaro and Zepbound
- Profit margin
- a 31.7% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: ELI LILLY & Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Workforce
- 50,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (6.5) Source: ELI LILLY & Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- California HQ
- headquartered in Indianapolis, IN (0.0) Source: ELI LILLY & Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Assets
- $112.5B in assets at the end of December 2025 (7.8) Source: ELI LILLY & Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Growth
- sales up 44.7% in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: ELI LILLY & Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Buybacks
- $4.1B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (8.7) Source: ELI LILLY & Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Sales
- $65.2B in sales in the year to December 2025 (8.2) Source: ELI LILLY & Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Inventory
- $13.7B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: ELI LILLY & Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
GE Aerospace
Jet engines
- Profit margin
- a 19.0% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (6.3) Source: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Workforce
- 57,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (6.8) Source: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- California HQ
- headquartered in Evendale, OH (0.0) Source: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Assets
- $130.2B in assets at the end of December 2025 (8.2) Source: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Growth
- sales up 18.5% in the year to December 2025 (7.4) Source: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Buybacks
- $7.6B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (9.6) Source: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Sales
- $45.9B in sales in the year to December 2025 (7.4) Source: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Inventory
- $11.9B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
AbbVie
Drugmaker behind Humira, Skyrizi and Botox
- Profit margin
- a 6.9% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (2.3) Source: AbbVie Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Workforce
- 57,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (6.8) Source: AbbVie Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- California HQ
- headquartered in North Chicago, IL (0.0) Source: AbbVie Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Assets
- $134.0B in assets at the end of December 2025 (8.2) Source: AbbVie Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Growth
- sales up 8.6% in the year to December 2025 (3.4) Source: AbbVie Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Buybacks
- $980M of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (6.6) Source: AbbVie Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Sales
- $61.2B in sales in the year to December 2025 (8.0) Source: AbbVie Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Inventory
- $5.0B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (8.4) Source: AbbVie Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
Costco
Membership warehouse clubs
- Profit margin
- a 2.9% profit margin in the year to August 2025 (1.0) Source: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW 10-K, filed 2025-10-08
- Workforce
- 341,000 employees at the end of August 2025 (10.0) Source: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW 10-K, filed 2025-10-08
- California HQ
- headquartered in Issaquah, WA (0.0) Source: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW 10-K, filed 2025-10-08
- Assets
- $77.1B in assets at the end of August 2025 (7.0) Source: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW 10-K, filed 2025-10-08
- Growth
- sales up 8.2% in the year to August 2025 (3.3) Source: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW 10-K, filed 2025-10-08
- Buybacks
- $903M of its own stock bought back in the year to August 2025 (6.5) Source: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW 10-K, filed 2025-10-08
- Sales
- $275.2B in sales in the year to August 2025 (10.0) Source: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW 10-K, filed 2025-10-08
- Inventory
- $18.1B of inventory at the end of August 2025 (10.0) Source: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW 10-K, filed 2025-10-08
Home Depot
Home improvement stores
- Profit margin
- a 8.6% profit margin in the year to February 2026 (2.9) Source: HOME DEPOT, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-18
- Workforce
- 472,400 employees at the end of February 2026 (10.0) Source: HOME DEPOT, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-18
- California HQ
- headquartered in Atlanta, GA (0.0) Source: HOME DEPOT, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-18
- Assets
- $105.1B in assets at the end of February 2026 (7.7) Source: HOME DEPOT, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-18
- Growth
- sales up 3.2% in the year to February 2026 (1.3) Source: HOME DEPOT, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-18
- Buybacks
- no buybacks in the year to February 2026 (0.0) Source: HOME DEPOT, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-18
- Sales
- $164.7B in sales in the year to February 2026 (10.0) Source: HOME DEPOT, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-18
- Inventory
- $25.8B of inventory at the end of February 2026 (10.0) Source: HOME DEPOT, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-18
Charles Schwab
Brokerage for investors
- Profit margin
- a 37.0% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: SCHWAB CHARLES CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Workforce
- 33,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (5.6) Source: SCHWAB CHARLES CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- California HQ
- headquartered in Westlake, TX (0.0) Source: SCHWAB CHARLES CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Assets
- $491.0B in assets at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: SCHWAB CHARLES CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Growth
- sales up 22.0% in the year to December 2025 (8.8) Source: SCHWAB CHARLES CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Buybacks
- $7.3B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (9.5) Source: SCHWAB CHARLES CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Sales
- $23.9B in sales in the year to December 2025 (6.0) Source: SCHWAB CHARLES CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: SCHWAB CHARLES CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
Salesforce
Cloud software for sales and customer service
- Profit margin
- a 18.0% profit margin in the year to January 2026 (6.0) Source: Salesforce, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Workforce
- 83,334 employees at the end of January 2026 (7.6) Source: Salesforce, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- California HQ
- headquartered in San Francisco, CA (10.0) Source: Salesforce, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Assets
- $112.3B in assets at the end of January 2026 (7.8) Source: Salesforce, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Growth
- sales up 9.6% in the year to January 2026 (3.8) Source: Salesforce, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Buybacks
- $12.6B of its own stock bought back in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: Salesforce, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Sales
- $41.5B in sales in the year to January 2026 (7.2) Source: Salesforce, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of January 2026 (0.0) Source: Salesforce, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-02