Companies · Puzzle #5 · Sunday, October 4
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
- Growth: 1 pt per 2.5% sales growth, last year
- Sales per employee: 2 pts per doubling over $60K a head, last year
- Sales: 1.5 pts per doubling over $1.5B, last year
- Workforce: 1.5 pts per doubling over 2,500 staff, at year end
- Heritage: 1 pt per 15 years old
- Profit: 1.5 pts per doubling over $150M, last year
- Dividends: 1 pt per doubling over $5M, last year
- Cash on hand: 1.5 pts per doubling over $200M, at year end
The best board
- Abercrombie & Fitch in Heritage: founded in 1892, 134 years ago (8.9)
- Visa in Cash on hand: $17.2B in cash at the end of September 2025 (9.6)
- Disney in Workforce: 231,000 employees at the end of September 2025 (9.8)
- Palantir in Growth: sales up 56.2% in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- ExxonMobil in Sales per employee: $5.73M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Walmart in Sales: $713.2B in sales in the year to January 2026 (10.0)
- RTX (Raytheon) in Dividends: $3.6B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (9.5)
- Nvidia in Profit: $120.1B profit in the year to January 2026 (10.0)
The most this board could score: 77.8 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
Abercrombie & Fitch
Casual clothing, plus Hollister
- Growth
- sales up 6.4% in the year to January 2026 (2.6) Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-03-26
- Sales per employee
- $122K in sales per employee in the year to January 2026 (2.0) Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-03-26
- Sales
- $5.3B in sales in the year to January 2026 (2.7) Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-03-26
- Workforce
- 43,200 employees at the end of January 2026 (6.2) Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-03-26
- Heritage
- founded in 1892, 134 years ago (8.9) Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-03-26
- Profit
- $507M profit in the year to January 2026 (2.6) Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-03-26
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to January 2026 (0.0) Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-03-26
- Cash on hand
- $760M in cash at the end of January 2026 (2.9) Source: ABERCROMBIE & FITCH CO /DE/ 10-K, filed 2026-03-26
Visa
Card payments network
- Growth
- sales up 11.3% in the year to September 2025 (4.5) Source: VISA INC. 10-K, filed 2025-11-06
- Sales per employee
- $1.17M in sales per employee in the year to September 2025 (8.6) Source: VISA INC. 10-K, filed 2025-11-06
- Sales
- $40.0B in sales in the year to September 2025 (7.1) Source: VISA INC. 10-K, filed 2025-11-06
- Workforce
- 34,100 employees at the end of September 2025 (5.7) Source: VISA INC. 10-K, filed 2025-11-06
- Heritage
- founded in 1958, 68 years ago (4.5) Source: VISA INC. 10-K, filed 2025-11-06
- Profit
- $20.1B profit in the year to September 2025 (10.0) Source: VISA INC. 10-K, filed 2025-11-06
- Dividends
- $4.6B paid in dividends in the year to September 2025 (9.9) Source: VISA INC. 10-K, filed 2025-11-06
- Cash on hand
- $17.2B in cash at the end of September 2025 (9.6) Source: VISA INC. 10-K, filed 2025-11-06
Disney
Theme parks, films, ESPN and Disney+
- Growth
- sales up 3.4% in the year to September 2025 (1.3) Source: Walt Disney Co 10-K, filed 2025-11-13
- Sales per employee
- $409K in sales per employee in the year to September 2025 (5.5) Source: Walt Disney Co 10-K, filed 2025-11-13
- Sales
- $94.4B in sales in the year to September 2025 (9.0) Source: Walt Disney Co 10-K, filed 2025-11-13
- Workforce
- 231,000 employees at the end of September 2025 (9.8) Source: Walt Disney Co 10-K, filed 2025-11-13
- Heritage
- founded in 1923, 103 years ago (6.9) Source: Walt Disney Co 10-K, filed 2025-11-13
- Profit
- $12.4B profit in the year to September 2025 (9.6) Source: Walt Disney Co 10-K, filed 2025-11-13
- Dividends
- $1.8B paid in dividends in the year to September 2025 (8.5) Source: Walt Disney Co 10-K, filed 2025-11-13
- Cash on hand
- $5.7B in cash at the end of September 2025 (7.2) Source: Walt Disney Co 10-K, filed 2025-11-13
Palantir
Data-analysis software for governments and companies
- Growth
- sales up 56.2% in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Palantir Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Sales per employee
- $1.01M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (8.1) Source: Palantir Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Sales
- $4.5B in sales in the year to December 2025 (2.4) Source: Palantir Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Workforce
- 4,429 employees at the end of December 2025 (1.2) Source: Palantir Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Heritage
- founded in 2003, 23 years ago (1.5) Source: Palantir Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Profit
- $1.6B profit in the year to December 2025 (5.2) Source: Palantir Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: Palantir Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Cash on hand
- $1.4B in cash at the end of December 2025 (4.2) Source: Palantir Technologies Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
ExxonMobil
Oil and gas, plus Exxon and Mobil stations
- Growth
- sales down 5.0% in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: EXXON MOBIL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Sales per employee
- $5.73M in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: EXXON MOBIL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Sales
- $332.2B in sales in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: EXXON MOBIL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Workforce
- 58,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (6.8) Source: EXXON MOBIL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Heritage
- founded in 1882, 144 years ago (9.6) Source: EXXON MOBIL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Profit
- $28.8B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: EXXON MOBIL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Dividends
- $17.2B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: EXXON MOBIL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Cash on hand
- $10.7B in cash at the end of December 2025 (8.6) Source: EXXON MOBIL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
Walmart
Discount supercenters, plus Sam's Club
- Growth
- sales up 4.7% in the year to January 2026 (1.9) Source: Walmart Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-13
- Sales per employee
- $340K in sales per employee in the year to January 2026 (5.0) Source: Walmart Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-13
- Sales
- $713.2B in sales in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: Walmart Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-13
- Workforce
- 2,100,000 employees at the end of January 2026 (10.0) Source: Walmart Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-13
- Heritage
- founded in 1962, 64 years ago (4.3) Source: Walmart Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-13
- Profit
- $21.9B profit in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: Walmart Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-13
- Dividends
- $7.5B paid in dividends in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: Walmart Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-13
- Cash on hand
- $10.7B in cash at the end of January 2026 (8.6) Source: Walmart Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-13
RTX (Raytheon)
Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Raytheon missiles
- Growth
- sales up 9.7% in the year to December 2025 (3.9) Source: RTX Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Sales per employee
- $492K in sales per employee in the year to December 2025 (6.1) Source: RTX Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Sales
- $88.6B in sales in the year to December 2025 (8.8) Source: RTX Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Workforce
- 180,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (9.3) Source: RTX Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Heritage
- founded in 1922, 104 years ago (6.9) Source: RTX Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Profit
- $6.7B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.2) Source: RTX Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Dividends
- $3.6B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (9.5) Source: RTX Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Cash on hand
- $7.4B in cash at the end of December 2025 (7.8) Source: RTX Corp 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
Nvidia
Graphics chips that power gaming and AI
- Growth
- sales up 65.5% in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: NVIDIA CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Sales per employee
- $5.14M in sales per employee in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: NVIDIA CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Sales
- $215.9B in sales in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: NVIDIA CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Workforce
- 42,000 employees at the end of January 2026 (6.1) Source: NVIDIA CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Heritage
- founded in 1993, 33 years ago (2.2) Source: NVIDIA CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Profit
- $120.1B profit in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: NVIDIA CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Dividends
- $974M paid in dividends in the year to January 2026 (7.6) Source: NVIDIA CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25
- Cash on hand
- $10.6B in cash at the end of January 2026 (8.6) Source: NVIDIA CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-25