Companies · Puzzle #6 · Monday, October 5
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
- Profit: 1.5 pts per doubling over $150M, last year
- Off-calendar year: 10 pts if its year ends off December
- Cash on hand: 1.5 pts per doubling over $200M, at year end
- Growth: 1 pt per 2.5% sales growth, last year
- Workforce: 1.5 pts per doubling over 2,500 staff, at year end
- Profit margin: 1 pt per 3% margin, last year
- Inventory: 1.5 pts per doubling over $100M, at year end
- Dividends: 1 pt per doubling over $5M, last year
The best board
- McDonald's in Dividends: $5.1B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Caterpillar in Inventory: $18.1B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
- Capital One in Cash on hand: $62.1B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
- Lowe's in Workforce: 276,000 employees at the end of January 2026 (10.0)
- Uber in Profit: $10.1B profit in the year to December 2025 (9.1)
- Fair Isaac (FICO) in Profit margin: a 32.8% profit margin in the year to September 2025 (10.0)
- Alaska Air in Growth: sales up 21.3% in the year to December 2025 (8.5)
- AutoZone in Off-calendar year: its fiscal year ends in August (10.0)
The most this board could score: 77.6 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
McDonald's
Burger chain known for the Big Mac
- Profit
- $8.6B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.8) Source: MCDONALDS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: MCDONALDS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Cash on hand
- $774M in cash at the end of December 2025 (2.9) Source: MCDONALDS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Growth
- sales up 3.7% in the year to December 2025 (1.5) Source: MCDONALDS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Workforce
- 150,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (8.9) Source: MCDONALDS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Profit margin
- a 31.9% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: MCDONALDS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Inventory
- $61M of inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: MCDONALDS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Dividends
- $5.1B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: MCDONALDS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
Caterpillar
Bulldozers, excavators and mining trucks
- Profit
- $8.9B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.8) Source: CATERPILLAR INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: CATERPILLAR INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Cash on hand
- $10.0B in cash at the end of December 2025 (8.5) Source: CATERPILLAR INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Growth
- sales up 4.3% in the year to December 2025 (1.7) Source: CATERPILLAR INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Workforce
- 118,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (8.3) Source: CATERPILLAR INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Profit margin
- a 13.1% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (4.4) Source: CATERPILLAR INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Inventory
- $18.1B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: CATERPILLAR INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Dividends
- $2.7B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (9.1) Source: CATERPILLAR INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
Capital One
Credit cards and online bank
- Profit
- $2.5B profit in the year to December 2025 (6.0) Source: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Cash on hand
- $62.1B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Growth
- sales up 36.6% in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Workforce
- 76,300 employees at the end of December 2025 (7.4) Source: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Profit margin
- a 4.6% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (1.5) Source: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
- Dividends
- $1.5B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (8.2) Source: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-19
Lowe's
Home improvement stores
- Profit
- $6.7B profit in the year to January 2026 (8.2) Source: LOWES COMPANIES INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-23
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in January (10.0) Source: LOWES COMPANIES INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-23
- Cash on hand
- $982M in cash at the end of January 2026 (3.4) Source: LOWES COMPANIES INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-23
- Growth
- sales up 3.1% in the year to January 2026 (1.2) Source: LOWES COMPANIES INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-23
- Workforce
- 276,000 employees at the end of January 2026 (10.0) Source: LOWES COMPANIES INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-23
- Profit margin
- a 7.7% profit margin in the year to January 2026 (2.6) Source: LOWES COMPANIES INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-23
- Inventory
- $17.3B of inventory at the end of January 2026 (10.0) Source: LOWES COMPANIES INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-23
- Dividends
- $2.6B paid in dividends in the year to January 2026 (9.0) Source: LOWES COMPANIES INC 10-K, filed 2026-03-23
Uber
Ride-hailing app, plus Uber Eats delivery
- Profit
- $10.1B profit in the year to December 2025 (9.1) Source: Uber Technologies, Inc 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: Uber Technologies, Inc 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Cash on hand
- $7.1B in cash at the end of December 2025 (7.7) Source: Uber Technologies, Inc 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Growth
- sales up 18.3% in the year to December 2025 (7.3) Source: Uber Technologies, Inc 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Workforce
- 34,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (5.6) Source: Uber Technologies, Inc 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Profit margin
- a 19.3% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (6.4) Source: Uber Technologies, Inc 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: Uber Technologies, Inc 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: Uber Technologies, Inc 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
Fair Isaac (FICO)
FICO credit scores
- Profit
- $652M profit in the year to September 2025 (3.2) Source: FAIR ISAAC CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-07
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in September (10.0) Source: FAIR ISAAC CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-07
- Cash on hand
- $134M in cash at the end of September 2025 (0.0) Source: FAIR ISAAC CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-07
- Growth
- sales up 15.9% in the year to September 2025 (6.4) Source: FAIR ISAAC CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-07
- Workforce
- 3,811 employees at the end of September 2025 (0.9) Source: FAIR ISAAC CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-07
- Profit margin
- a 32.8% profit margin in the year to September 2025 (10.0) Source: FAIR ISAAC CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-07
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of September 2025 (0.0) Source: FAIR ISAAC CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-07
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to September 2025 (0.0) Source: FAIR ISAAC CORP 10-K, filed 2025-11-07
Alaska Air
Airline, plus Hawaiian Airlines
- Profit
- $100M profit in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Cash on hand
- $627M in cash at the end of December 2025 (2.5) Source: ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Growth
- sales up 21.3% in the year to December 2025 (8.5) Source: ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Workforce
- 35,951 employees at the end of December 2025 (5.8) Source: ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Profit margin
- a 0.7% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (0.2) Source: ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Inventory
- $203M of inventory at the end of December 2025 (1.5) Source: ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
AutoZone
Auto parts stores
- Profit
- $2.5B profit in the year to August 2025 (6.1) Source: AUTOZONE INC 10-K, filed 2025-10-27
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in August (10.0) Source: AUTOZONE INC 10-K, filed 2025-10-27
- Cash on hand
- $272M in cash at the end of August 2025 (0.7) Source: AUTOZONE INC 10-K, filed 2025-10-27
- Growth
- sales up 2.4% in the year to August 2025 (1.0) Source: AUTOZONE INC 10-K, filed 2025-10-27
- Workforce
- 130,000 employees at the end of August 2025 (8.6) Source: AUTOZONE INC 10-K, filed 2025-10-27
- Profit margin
- a 13.2% profit margin in the year to August 2025 (4.4) Source: AUTOZONE INC 10-K, filed 2025-10-27
- Inventory
- $7.0B of inventory at the end of August 2025 (9.2) Source: AUTOZONE INC 10-K, filed 2025-10-27
- Dividends
- no dividends in the year to August 2025 (0.0) Source: AUTOZONE INC 10-K, filed 2025-10-27