Companies · Puzzle #14 · Tuesday, October 13
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
- Heritage: 1 pt per 15 years old
- Profit: 1.5 pts per doubling over $150M, last year
- Inventory: 1.5 pts per doubling over $100M, at year end
- Assets: 1.5 pts per doubling over $3B, at year end
- Sales per employee: 2 pts per doubling over $60K a head, last year
- Buybacks: 1 pt per doubling over $10M, last year
- Dividends: 1 pt per doubling over $5M, last year
- Off-calendar year: 10 pts if its year ends off December
The best board
- HCA Healthcare in Buybacks: $10.1B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Allstate in Profit: $10.3B profit in the year to December 2025 (9.1)
- Occidental in Sales per employee: $2.07M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Merck in Dividends: $8.2B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Boeing in Assets: $168.2B in assets at the end of December 2025 (8.7)
- Lennar in Inventory: $11.8B of inventory at the end of November 2025 (10.0)
- Deere (John Deere) in Heritage: founded in 1837, 189 years ago (10.0)
- Albertsons in Off-calendar year: its fiscal year ends in February (10.0)
The most this board could score: 77.8 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
HCA Healthcare
Hospital chain
- Heritage
- founded in 1968, 58 years ago (3.9) Source: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Profit
- $6.8B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.2) Source: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Inventory
- $1.7B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (6.1) Source: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Assets
- $60.7B in assets at the end of December 2025 (6.5) Source: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Sales per employee
- $236K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (4.0) Source: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Buybacks
- $10.1B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Dividends
- $679M paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (7.1) Source: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: HCA Healthcare, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
Allstate
Home and car insurance
- Heritage
- founded in 1931, 95 years ago (6.3) Source: ALLSTATE CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Profit
- $10.3B profit in the year to December 2025 (9.1) Source: ALLSTATE CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: ALLSTATE CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Assets
- $119.8B in assets at the end of December 2025 (8.0) Source: ALLSTATE CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Sales per employee
- $1.27M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (8.8) Source: ALLSTATE CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Buybacks
- $1.2B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (6.9) Source: ALLSTATE CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Dividends
- $1.0B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (7.7) Source: ALLSTATE CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: ALLSTATE CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
Occidental
Oil and gas producer
- Heritage
- founded in 1920, 106 years ago (7.1) Source: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Profit
- $2.4B profit in the year to December 2025 (6.0) Source: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Inventory
- $1.8B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (6.3) Source: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Assets
- $84.2B in assets at the end of December 2025 (7.2) Source: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Sales per employee
- $2.07M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Buybacks
- no buybacks in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Dividends
- $1.6B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (8.3) Source: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
Merck
Drugmaker behind Keytruda and Gardasil
- Heritage
- founded in 1891, 135 years ago (9.0) Source: Merck & Co., Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Profit
- $18.3B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Merck & Co., Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Inventory
- $6.7B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (9.1) Source: Merck & Co., Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Assets
- $136.9B in assets at the end of December 2025 (8.3) Source: Merck & Co., Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Sales per employee
- $867K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (7.7) Source: Merck & Co., Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Buybacks
- $5.1B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (9.0) Source: Merck & Co., Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Dividends
- $8.2B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Merck & Co., Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: Merck & Co., Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
Boeing
Passenger jets and defense aircraft
- Heritage
- founded in 1916, 110 years ago (7.3) Source: BOEING CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Profit
- $2.2B profit in the year to December 2025 (5.8) Source: BOEING CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Inventory
- $84.7B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: BOEING CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Assets
- $168.2B in assets at the end of December 2025 (8.7) Source: BOEING CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Sales per employee
- $492K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (6.1) Source: BOEING CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Buybacks
- no buybacks in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: BOEING CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Dividends
- $331M paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (6.0) Source: BOEING CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: BOEING CO 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
Lennar
Homebuilder
- Heritage
- founded in 1954, 72 years ago (4.8) Source: LENNAR CORP /NEW/ 10-K, filed 2026-01-28
- Profit
- $2.1B profit in the year to November 2025 (5.7) Source: LENNAR CORP /NEW/ 10-K, filed 2026-01-28
- Inventory
- $11.8B of inventory at the end of November 2025 (10.0) Source: LENNAR CORP /NEW/ 10-K, filed 2026-01-28
- Assets
- $34.4B in assets at the end of November 2025 (5.3) Source: LENNAR CORP /NEW/ 10-K, filed 2026-01-28
- Sales per employee
- $2.73M in sales per employee in the year to November 2025 (10.0) Source: LENNAR CORP /NEW/ 10-K, filed 2026-01-28
- Buybacks
- $1.8B of its own stock bought back in the year to November 2025 (7.5) Source: LENNAR CORP /NEW/ 10-K, filed 2026-01-28
- Dividends
- $521M paid in dividends in the year to November 2025 (6.7) Source: LENNAR CORP /NEW/ 10-K, filed 2026-01-28
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in November (10.0) Source: LENNAR CORP /NEW/ 10-K, filed 2026-01-28
Deere (John Deere)
John Deere tractors and farm equipment
- Heritage
- founded in 1837, 189 years ago (10.0) Source: DEERE & CO 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Profit
- $5.0B profit in the year to November 2025 (7.6) Source: DEERE & CO 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Inventory
- $7.4B of inventory at the end of November 2025 (9.3) Source: DEERE & CO 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Assets
- $106.0B in assets at the end of November 2025 (7.7) Source: DEERE & CO 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Sales per employee
- $625K in sales per employee in the year to November 2025 (6.8) Source: DEERE & CO 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Buybacks
- $1.1B of its own stock bought back in the year to November 2025 (6.8) Source: DEERE & CO 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Dividends
- $1.7B paid in dividends in the year to November 2025 (8.4) Source: DEERE & CO 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in November (10.0) Source: DEERE & CO 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
Albertsons
Supermarkets, including Safeway and Vons
- Heritage
- founded in 1939, 87 years ago (5.8) Source: Albertsons Companies, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-04-27
- Profit
- $217M profit in the year to February 2026 (0.8) Source: Albertsons Companies, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-04-27
- Inventory
- $5.2B of inventory at the end of February 2026 (8.5) Source: Albertsons Companies, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-04-27
- Assets
- $26.8B in assets at the end of February 2026 (4.7) Source: Albertsons Companies, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-04-27
- Sales per employee
- $297K in sales per employee in the year to February 2026 (4.6) Source: Albertsons Companies, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-04-27
- Buybacks
- $1.5B of its own stock bought back in the year to February 2026 (7.2) Source: Albertsons Companies, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-04-27
- Dividends
- $323M paid in dividends in the year to February 2026 (6.0) Source: Albertsons Companies, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-04-27
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in February (10.0) Source: Albertsons Companies, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-04-27