Companies · Puzzle #40 · Sunday, November 8
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 margin: 1 pt per 3% margin, last year
- Profit: 1.5 pts per doubling over $150M, last year
- Workforce: 1.5 pts per doubling over 2,500 staff, at year end
- Inventory: 1.5 pts per doubling over $100M, at year end
- Dividends: 1 pt per doubling over $5M, 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
The best board
- AT&T in Profit: $22.0B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- CVS Health in Workforce: 300,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
- Intel in Inventory: $11.6B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
- Berkshire Hathaway in Heritage: founded in 1839, 187 years ago (10.0)
- Procter & Gamble in Dividends: $10.2B paid in dividends in the year to June 2026 (10.0)
- Wingstop in Profit margin: a 25.0% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (8.3)
- Fox in Sales per employee: $1.62M in sales per employee in the year to June 2026 (9.5)
- Carvana in Growth: sales up 48.6% in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
The most this board could score: 77.8 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
AT&T
Wireless carrier and fiber internet
On this board AT&T scored best in Profit (10.0): $22.0B profit in the year to December 2025. Inventory was its weakest fit (0.0): no inventory at the end of December 2025. The best board puts it there too.
- Heritage
- founded in 2005, 21 years ago (1.4) Source: AT&T INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-09
- Profit margin
- a 17.5% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (5.8) Source: AT&T INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-09
- Profit
- $22.0B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: AT&T INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-09
- Workforce
- 133,030 employees at the end of December 2025 (8.6) Source: AT&T INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-09
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: AT&T INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-09
- Dividends
- $8.2B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: AT&T INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-09
- Sales per employee
- $945K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (8.0) Source: AT&T INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-09
- Growth
- sales up 2.7% in the year to December 2025 (1.1) Source: AT&T INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-09
CVS Health
Pharmacies, Aetna insurance and Caremark
CVS Health's best fit on this board was Workforce, worth 10.0: 300,000 employees at the end of December 2025. Its weakest was Profit margin, worth 0.1: a 0.4% profit margin in the year to December 2025. That is where the best board puts it as well.
- Heritage
- founded in 1963, 63 years ago (4.2) Source: CVS HEALTH Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Profit margin
- a 0.4% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (0.1) Source: CVS HEALTH Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Profit
- $1.8B profit in the year to December 2025 (5.3) Source: CVS HEALTH Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Workforce
- 300,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: CVS HEALTH Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Inventory
- $19.2B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: CVS HEALTH Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Dividends
- $3.4B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (9.4) Source: CVS HEALTH Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Sales per employee
- $1.34M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (9.0) Source: CVS HEALTH Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
- Growth
- sales up 7.8% in the year to December 2025 (3.1) Source: CVS HEALTH Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-10
Intel
Processors for PCs and servers
Intel's best fit on this board was Inventory, worth 10.0: $11.6B of inventory at the end of December 2025. Its weakest was Profit margin, worth 0.0: a loss of 0.5% of sales in the year to December 2025. That is where the best board puts it as well.
- Heritage
- founded in 1968, 58 years ago (3.9) Source: INTEL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Profit margin
- a loss of 0.5% of sales in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: INTEL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Profit
- a $267M loss in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: INTEL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Workforce
- 85,100 employees at the end of December 2025 (7.6) Source: INTEL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Inventory
- $11.6B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: INTEL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: INTEL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Sales per employee
- $621K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (6.7) Source: INTEL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Growth
- sales down 0.5% in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: INTEL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett's conglomerate: GEICO, BNSF and more
Berkshire Hathaway's best fit on this board was Heritage, worth 10.0: founded in 1839, 187 years ago. Its weakest was Dividends, worth 0.0: no dividends in the year to December 2025. That is where the best board puts it as well.
- Heritage
- founded in 1839, 187 years ago (10.0) Source: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Profit margin
- a 18.0% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (6.0) Source: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Profit
- $67.0B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Workforce
- 387,800 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Inventory
- $24.4B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Sales per employee
- $958K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (8.0) Source: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
- Growth
- sales up 0.0% in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-02
Procter & Gamble
Tide, Pampers, Gillette and other household brands
On this board Procter & Gamble scored best in Dividends (10.0): $10.2B paid in dividends in the year to June 2026. Growth was its weakest fit (1.3): sales up 3.3% in the year to June 2026. The best board puts it there too.
- Heritage
- founded in 1837, 189 years ago (10.0) Source: PROCTER & GAMBLE Co 10-K, filed 2026-08-04
- Profit margin
- a 18.4% profit margin in the year to June 2026 (6.1) Source: PROCTER & GAMBLE Co 10-K, filed 2026-08-04
- Profit
- $16.0B profit in the year to June 2026 (10.0) Source: PROCTER & GAMBLE Co 10-K, filed 2026-08-04
- Workforce
- 104,000 employees at the end of June 2026 (8.1) Source: PROCTER & GAMBLE Co 10-K, filed 2026-08-04
- Inventory
- $8.2B of inventory at the end of June 2026 (9.5) Source: PROCTER & GAMBLE Co 10-K, filed 2026-08-04
- Dividends
- $10.2B paid in dividends in the year to June 2026 (10.0) Source: PROCTER & GAMBLE Co 10-K, filed 2026-08-04
- Sales per employee
- $837K in sales per employee in the year to June 2026 (7.6) Source: PROCTER & GAMBLE Co 10-K, filed 2026-08-04
- Growth
- sales up 3.3% in the year to June 2026 (1.3) Source: PROCTER & GAMBLE Co 10-K, filed 2026-08-04
Wingstop
Chicken wing chain
On this board Wingstop scored best in Profit margin (8.3): a 25.0% profit margin in the year to December 2025. Workforce was its weakest fit (0.0): 1,367 employees at the end of December 2025. The best board puts it there too.
- Heritage
- founded in 1994, 32 years ago (2.1) Source: Wingstop Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Profit margin
- a 25.0% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (8.3) Source: Wingstop Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Profit
- $174M profit in the year to December 2025 (0.3) Source: Wingstop Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Workforce
- 1,367 employees at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: Wingstop Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: Wingstop Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Dividends
- $32M paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (2.7) Source: Wingstop Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Sales per employee
- $510K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (6.2) Source: Wingstop Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Growth
- sales up 11.3% in the year to December 2025 (4.5) Source: Wingstop Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
Fox
Fox News and Fox Sports
On this board Fox scored best in Sales per employee (9.5): $1.62M in sales per employee in the year to June 2026. Heritage was its weakest fit (0.5): founded in 2019, 7 years ago. The best board puts it there too.
- Heritage
- founded in 2019, 7 years ago (0.5) Source: Fox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-08-06
- Profit margin
- a 10.1% profit margin in the year to June 2026 (3.4) Source: Fox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-08-06
- Profit
- $1.7B profit in the year to June 2026 (5.3) Source: Fox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-08-06
- Workforce
- 10,550 employees at the end of June 2026 (3.1) Source: Fox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-08-06
- Inventory
- $487M of inventory at the end of June 2026 (3.4) Source: Fox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-08-06
- Dividends
- $287M paid in dividends in the year to June 2026 (5.8) Source: Fox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-08-06
- Sales per employee
- $1.62M in sales per employee in the year to June 2026 (9.5) Source: Fox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-08-06
- Growth
- sales up 5.1% in the year to June 2026 (2.0) Source: Fox Corp 10-K, filed 2026-08-06
Carvana
Online used-car dealer with car vending machines
Carvana's best fit on this board was Growth, worth 10.0: sales up 48.6% in the year to December 2025. Its weakest was Dividends, worth 0.0: no dividends in the year to December 2025. That is where the best board puts it as well.
- Heritage
- founded in 2012, 14 years ago (0.9) 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
- Profit
- $1.4B profit in the year to December 2025 (4.8) 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
- Inventory
- $2.4B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (6.9) 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
- 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