Companies · Puzzle #4 · Saturday, October 3
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: 1.5 pts per doubling over $1.5B, last year
- Workforce: 1.5 pts per doubling over 2,500 staff, at year end
- Cash on hand: 1.5 pts per doubling over $200M, at year end
- Profit margin: 1 pt per 3% margin, last year
- Sales per employee: 2 pts per doubling over $60K a head, last year
- Growth: 1 pt per 2.5% sales growth, last year
- Profit: 1.5 pts per doubling over $150M, last year
- Inventory: 1.5 pts per doubling over $100M, at year end
The best board
- Regeneron in Profit margin: a 31.4% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Dollar General in Workforce: 194,000 employees at the end of January 2026 (9.4)
- Roblox in Growth: sales up 35.8% in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Dell in Inventory: $10.4B of inventory at the end of January 2026 (10.0)
- General Motors in Sales: $185.0B in sales in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Morgan Stanley in Cash on hand: $111.7B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
- e.l.f. Beauty in Sales per employee: $1.93M in sales per employee in the year to March 2026 (10.0)
- Amazon in Profit: $77.7B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
The most this board could score: 79.4 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
Regeneron
Biotech drugmaker behind Eylea and Dupixent
- Sales
- $14.3B in sales in the year to December 2025 (4.9) Source: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-04
- Workforce
- 15,410 employees at the end of December 2025 (3.9) Source: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-04
- Cash on hand
- $3.1B in cash at the end of December 2025 (5.9) Source: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-04
- Profit margin
- a 31.4% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-04
- Sales per employee
- $931K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (7.9) Source: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-04
- Growth
- sales up 1.0% in the year to December 2025 (0.4) Source: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-04
- Profit
- $4.5B profit in the year to December 2025 (7.4) Source: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-04
- Inventory
- $3.2B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (7.5) Source: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-04
Dollar General
Discount stores in small towns
- Sales
- $42.7B in sales in the year to January 2026 (7.2) Source: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-03-20
- Workforce
- 194,000 employees at the end of January 2026 (9.4) Source: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-03-20
- Cash on hand
- $1.1B in cash at the end of January 2026 (3.8) Source: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-03-20
- Profit margin
- a 3.5% profit margin in the year to January 2026 (1.2) Source: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-03-20
- Sales per employee
- $220K in sales per employee in the year to January 2026 (3.7) Source: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-03-20
- Growth
- sales up 5.2% in the year to January 2026 (2.1) Source: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-03-20
- Profit
- $1.5B profit in the year to January 2026 (5.0) Source: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-03-20
- Inventory
- $6.3B of inventory at the end of January 2026 (9.0) Source: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-03-20
Roblox
Online game platform where players build games
- Sales
- $4.9B in sales in the year to December 2025 (2.6) Source: Roblox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Workforce
- 3,065 employees at the end of December 2025 (0.4) Source: Roblox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Cash on hand
- $1.2B in cash at the end of December 2025 (3.9) Source: Roblox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Profit margin
- a loss of 21.8% of sales in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: Roblox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Sales per employee
- $1.60M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (9.5) Source: Roblox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Growth
- sales up 35.8% in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Roblox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Profit
- a $1.1B loss in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: Roblox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: Roblox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
Dell
PCs, laptops and data-center servers
- Sales
- $113.5B in sales in the year to January 2026 (9.4) Source: Dell Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-16
- Workforce
- 97,000 employees at the end of January 2026 (7.9) Source: Dell Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-16
- Cash on hand
- $11.5B in cash at the end of January 2026 (8.8) Source: Dell Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-16
- Profit margin
- a 5.2% profit margin in the year to January 2026 (1.7) Source: Dell Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-16
- Sales per employee
- $1.17M in sales per employee in the year to January 2026 (8.6) Source: Dell Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-16
- Growth
- sales up 18.8% in the year to January 2026 (7.5) Source: Dell Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-16
- Profit
- $5.9B profit in the year to January 2026 (8.0) Source: Dell Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-16
- Inventory
- $10.4B of inventory at the end of January 2026 (10.0) Source: Dell Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-16
General Motors
Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick
- Sales
- $185.0B in sales in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: General Motors Co 10-K, filed 2026-01-27
- Workforce
- 156,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (8.9) Source: General Motors Co 10-K, filed 2026-01-27
- Cash on hand
- $20.9B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: General Motors Co 10-K, filed 2026-01-27
- Profit margin
- a 1.5% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (0.5) Source: General Motors Co 10-K, filed 2026-01-27
- Sales per employee
- $1.19M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (8.6) Source: General Motors Co 10-K, filed 2026-01-27
- Growth
- sales down 1.3% in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: General Motors Co 10-K, filed 2026-01-27
- Profit
- $2.7B profit in the year to December 2025 (6.3) Source: General Motors Co 10-K, filed 2026-01-27
- Inventory
- $14.5B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: General Motors Co 10-K, filed 2026-01-27
Morgan Stanley
Investment bank and wealth manager
- Sales
- $70.6B in sales in the year to December 2025 (8.3) Source: MORGAN STANLEY 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Workforce
- 83,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (7.6) Source: MORGAN STANLEY 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Cash on hand
- $111.7B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: MORGAN STANLEY 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Profit margin
- a 23.9% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (8.0) Source: MORGAN STANLEY 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Sales per employee
- $851K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (7.7) Source: MORGAN STANLEY 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Growth
- sales up 14.4% in the year to December 2025 (5.8) Source: MORGAN STANLEY 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Profit
- $16.9B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: MORGAN STANLEY 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: MORGAN STANLEY 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
e.l.f. Beauty
Low-price makeup and skincare
- Sales
- $1.6B in sales in the year to March 2026 (0.2) Source: e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-05-21
- Workforce
- 849 employees at the end of March 2026 (0.0) Source: e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-05-21
- Cash on hand
- $290M in cash at the end of March 2026 (0.8) Source: e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-05-21
- Profit margin
- a 1.6% profit margin in the year to March 2026 (0.5) Source: e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-05-21
- Sales per employee
- $1.93M in sales per employee in the year to March 2026 (10.0) Source: e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-05-21
- Growth
- sales up 24.6% in the year to March 2026 (9.8) Source: e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-05-21
- Profit
- $26M profit in the year to March 2026 (0.0) Source: e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-05-21
- Inventory
- $220M of inventory at the end of March 2026 (1.7) Source: e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-05-21
Amazon
Online store, Prime and the AWS cloud
- Sales
- $716.9B in sales in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: AMAZON COM INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Workforce
- 1,576,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: AMAZON COM INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Cash on hand
- $86.8B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: AMAZON COM INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Profit margin
- a 10.8% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (3.6) Source: AMAZON COM INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Sales per employee
- $455K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (5.8) Source: AMAZON COM INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Growth
- sales up 12.4% in the year to December 2025 (5.0) Source: AMAZON COM INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Profit
- $77.7B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: AMAZON COM INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Inventory
- $38.3B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: AMAZON COM INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-06