Companies · Puzzle #3 · Friday, October 2
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
- Sales per employee: 2 pts per doubling over $60K a head, last year
- Growth: 1 pt per 2.5% sales growth, last year
- Dividends: 1 pt per doubling over $5M, last year
- Off-calendar year: 10 pts if its year ends off December
- Workforce: 1.5 pts per doubling over 2,500 staff, at year end
- Profit: 1.5 pts per doubling over $150M, last year
- Sales: 1.5 pts per doubling over $1.5B, last year
- Profit margin: 1 pt per 3% margin, last year
The best board
- JPMorgan Chase in Profit: $57.0B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Brinker (Chili's) in Off-calendar year: its fiscal year ends in June (10.0)
- Reddit in Profit margin: a 24.1% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (8.0)
- Meta in Sales: $201.0B in sales in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Coca-Cola in Dividends: $8.8B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- MetLife in Sales per employee: $1.68M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (9.6)
- Carvana in Growth: sales up 48.6% in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Starbucks in Workforce: 381,000 employees at the end of September 2025 (10.0)
The most this board could score: 77.6 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
JPMorgan Chase
Bank behind Chase cards and branches
- Sales per employee
- $573K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (6.5) Source: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Growth
- sales up 2.8% in the year to December 2025 (1.1) Source: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Dividends
- $16.6B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Workforce
- 318,512 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Profit
- $57.0B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Sales
- $182.4B in sales in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Profit margin
- a 31.3% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
Brinker (Chili's)
Owner of Chili's and Maggiano's
- Sales per employee
- $68K in sales per employee in the year to June 2026 (0.4) Source: BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC 10-K, filed 2026-08-19
- Growth
- sales up 7.9% in the year to June 2026 (3.1) Source: BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC 10-K, filed 2026-08-19
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to June 2026 (0.0) Source: BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC 10-K, filed 2026-08-19
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in June (10.0) Source: BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC 10-K, filed 2026-08-19
- Workforce
- 85,003 employees at the end of June 2026 (7.6) Source: BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC 10-K, filed 2026-08-19
- Profit
- $487M profit in the year to June 2026 (2.5) Source: BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC 10-K, filed 2026-08-19
- Sales
- $5.8B in sales in the year to June 2026 (2.9) Source: BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC 10-K, filed 2026-08-19
- Profit margin
- a 8.4% profit margin in the year to June 2026 (2.8) Source: BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC 10-K, filed 2026-08-19
Reddit
Online communities and discussion forums
- Sales per employee
- $862K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (7.7) Source: Reddit, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Growth
- sales up 69.4% in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Reddit, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: Reddit, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: Reddit, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Workforce
- 2,555 employees at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: Reddit, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Profit
- $530M profit in the year to December 2025 (2.7) Source: Reddit, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Sales
- $2.2B in sales in the year to December 2025 (0.8) Source: Reddit, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Profit margin
- a 24.1% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (8.0) Source: Reddit, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
Meta
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp
- Sales per employee
- $2.55M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Growth
- sales up 22.2% in the year to December 2025 (8.9) Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Dividends
- $5.3B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Workforce
- 78,865 employees at the end of December 2025 (7.5) Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Profit
- $60.5B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Sales
- $201.0B in sales in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
- Profit margin
- a 30.1% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Meta Platforms, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-01-29
Coca-Cola
Coke, Sprite and other drinks
- Sales per employee
- $727K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (7.2) Source: COCA COLA CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Growth
- sales up 1.9% in the year to December 2025 (0.7) Source: COCA COLA CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Dividends
- $8.8B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: COCA COLA CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: COCA COLA CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Workforce
- 65,900 employees at the end of December 2025 (7.1) Source: COCA COLA CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Profit
- $13.1B profit in the year to December 2025 (9.7) Source: COCA COLA CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Sales
- $47.9B in sales in the year to December 2025 (7.5) Source: COCA COLA CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
- Profit margin
- a 27.3% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (9.1) Source: COCA COLA CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-20
MetLife
Life insurance
- Sales per employee
- $1.68M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (9.6) Source: METLIFE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Growth
- sales up 8.6% in the year to December 2025 (3.4) Source: METLIFE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Dividends
- $1.5B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (8.2) Source: METLIFE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: METLIFE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Workforce
- 46,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (6.3) Source: METLIFE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Profit
- $3.4B profit in the year to December 2025 (6.7) Source: METLIFE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Sales
- $77.1B in sales in the year to December 2025 (8.5) Source: METLIFE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Profit margin
- a 4.4% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (1.5) Source: METLIFE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
Carvana
Online used-car dealer with car vending machines
- Sales per employee
- $880K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (7.7) Source: CARVANA CO. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Growth
- sales up 48.6% in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: CARVANA CO. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: CARVANA CO. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: CARVANA CO. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Workforce
- 23,100 employees at the end of December 2025 (4.8) Source: CARVANA CO. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Profit
- $1.4B profit in the year to December 2025 (4.8) Source: CARVANA CO. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Sales
- $20.3B in sales in the year to December 2025 (5.6) Source: CARVANA CO. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Profit margin
- a 6.9% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (2.3) Source: CARVANA CO. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
Starbucks
Coffeehouse chain
- Sales per employee
- $98K in sales per employee in the year to September 2025 (1.4) Source: STARBUCKS CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-14
- Growth
- sales up 2.8% in the year to September 2025 (1.1) Source: STARBUCKS CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-14
- Dividends
- $2.8B paid in dividends in the year to September 2025 (9.1) Source: STARBUCKS CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-14
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in September (10.0) Source: STARBUCKS CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-14
- Workforce
- 381,000 employees at the end of September 2025 (10.0) Source: STARBUCKS CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-14
- Profit
- $1.9B profit in the year to September 2025 (5.4) Source: STARBUCKS CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-14
- Sales
- $37.2B in sales in the year to September 2025 (6.9) Source: STARBUCKS CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-14
- Profit margin
- a 5.0% profit margin in the year to September 2025 (1.7) Source: STARBUCKS CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-14