Companies · Puzzle #7 · Tuesday, October 6
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
- Profit margin: 1 pt per 3% margin, last year
- Buybacks: 1 pt per doubling over $10M, last year
- California HQ: 10 pts if based in California
- Heritage: 1 pt per 15 years old
- Workforce: 1.5 pts per doubling over 2,500 staff, at year end
- Growth: 1 pt per 2.5% sales growth, last year
- Off-calendar year: 10 pts if its year ends off December
The best board
- Netflix in California HQ: headquartered in Los Gatos, CA (10.0)
- PepsiCo in Workforce: 306,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
- Kroger in Heritage: founded in 1882, 144 years ago (9.6)
- Broadcom in Profit margin: a 36.2% profit margin in the year to November 2025 (10.0)
- Bristol Myers Squibb in Profit: $7.1B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.3)
- Chevron in Buybacks: $12.1B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- Burlington in Off-calendar year: its fiscal year ends in January (10.0)
- DoorDash in Growth: sales up 27.9% in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
The most this board could score: 77.9 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
Netflix
Streaming service for films and series
- Profit
- $11.0B profit in the year to December 2025 (9.3) Source: NETFLIX INC 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Profit margin
- a 24.3% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (8.1) Source: NETFLIX INC 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Buybacks
- $9.1B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (9.8) Source: NETFLIX INC 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- California HQ
- headquartered in Los Gatos, CA (10.0) Source: NETFLIX INC 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Heritage
- founded in 1997, 29 years ago (1.9) Source: NETFLIX INC 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Workforce
- 16,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (4.0) Source: NETFLIX INC 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Growth
- sales up 15.8% in the year to December 2025 (6.3) Source: NETFLIX INC 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: NETFLIX INC 10-K, filed 2026-01-23
PepsiCo
Pepsi, Gatorade, Lay's and Doritos
- Profit
- $8.2B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.7) Source: PEPSICO INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-03
- Profit margin
- a 8.8% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (2.9) Source: PEPSICO INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-03
- Buybacks
- $1.0B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (6.6) Source: PEPSICO INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-03
- California HQ
- headquartered in Purchase, NY (0.0) Source: PEPSICO INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-03
- Heritage
- founded in 1961, 65 years ago (4.3) Source: PEPSICO INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-03
- Workforce
- 306,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: PEPSICO INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-03
- Growth
- sales up 2.3% in the year to December 2025 (0.9) Source: PEPSICO INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-03
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: PEPSICO INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-03
Kroger
Supermarkets, including Ralphs and Fred Meyer
- Profit
- $1.0B profit in the year to January 2026 (4.1) Source: KROGER CO 10-K, filed 2026-03-31
- Profit margin
- a 0.7% profit margin in the year to January 2026 (0.2) Source: KROGER CO 10-K, filed 2026-03-31
- Buybacks
- $2.7B of its own stock bought back in the year to January 2026 (8.1) Source: KROGER CO 10-K, filed 2026-03-31
- California HQ
- headquartered in Cincinnati, OH (0.0) Source: KROGER CO 10-K, filed 2026-03-31
- Heritage
- founded in 1882, 144 years ago (9.6) Source: KROGER CO 10-K, filed 2026-03-31
- Workforce
- 403,000 employees at the end of January 2026 (10.0) Source: KROGER CO 10-K, filed 2026-03-31
- Growth
- sales up 0.4% in the year to January 2026 (0.1) Source: KROGER CO 10-K, filed 2026-03-31
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in January (10.0) Source: KROGER CO 10-K, filed 2026-03-31
Broadcom
Networking chips and VMware software
- Profit
- $23.1B profit in the year to November 2025 (10.0) Source: Broadcom Inc. 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Profit margin
- a 36.2% profit margin in the year to November 2025 (10.0) Source: Broadcom Inc. 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Buybacks
- $2.5B of its own stock bought back in the year to November 2025 (7.9) Source: Broadcom Inc. 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- California HQ
- headquartered in Palo Alto, CA (10.0) Source: Broadcom Inc. 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Heritage
- founded in 1961, 65 years ago (4.3) Source: Broadcom Inc. 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Workforce
- 33,000 employees at the end of November 2025 (5.6) Source: Broadcom Inc. 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Growth
- sales up 23.9% in the year to November 2025 (9.5) Source: Broadcom Inc. 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in November (10.0) Source: Broadcom Inc. 10-K, filed 2025-12-18
Bristol Myers Squibb
Drugmaker behind Eliquis and Opdivo
- Profit
- $7.1B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.3) Source: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Profit margin
- a 14.6% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (4.9) Source: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Buybacks
- no buybacks in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- California HQ
- headquartered in Princeton, NJ (0.0) Source: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Heritage
- founded in 1989, 37 years ago (2.5) Source: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Workforce
- 32,500 employees at the end of December 2025 (5.6) Source: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Growth
- sales down 0.2% in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-11
Chevron
Oil and gas, plus Chevron and Texaco stations
- Profit
- $12.3B profit in the year to December 2025 (9.5) Source: CHEVRON CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Profit margin
- a 6.5% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (2.2) Source: CHEVRON CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Buybacks
- $12.1B of its own stock bought back in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: CHEVRON CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- California HQ
- headquartered in Houston, TX (0.0) Source: CHEVRON CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Heritage
- founded in 1879, 147 years ago (9.8) Source: CHEVRON CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Workforce
- 43,039 employees at the end of December 2025 (6.2) Source: CHEVRON CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Growth
- sales down 6.8% in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: CHEVRON CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: CHEVRON CORP 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
Burlington
Off-price clothing and home stores
- Profit
- $610M profit in the year to January 2026 (3.0) Source: Burlington Stores, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-19
- Profit margin
- a 5.3% profit margin in the year to January 2026 (1.8) Source: Burlington Stores, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-19
- Buybacks
- $278M of its own stock bought back in the year to January 2026 (4.8) Source: Burlington Stores, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-19
- California HQ
- headquartered in Burlington, NJ (0.0) Source: Burlington Stores, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-19
- Heritage
- founded in 1972, 54 years ago (3.6) Source: Burlington Stores, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-19
- Workforce
- 83,309 employees at the end of January 2026 (7.6) Source: Burlington Stores, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-19
- Growth
- sales up 8.8% in the year to January 2026 (3.5) Source: Burlington Stores, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-19
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in January (10.0) Source: Burlington Stores, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-03-19
DoorDash
Food and grocery delivery app
- Profit
- $935M profit in the year to December 2025 (4.0) Source: DoorDash, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Profit margin
- a 6.8% profit margin in the year to December 2025 (2.3) Source: DoorDash, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Buybacks
- no buybacks in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: DoorDash, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- California HQ
- headquartered in San Francisco, CA (10.0) Source: DoorDash, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Heritage
- founded in 2012, 14 years ago (0.9) Source: DoorDash, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Workforce
- 31,400 employees at the end of December 2025 (5.5) Source: DoorDash, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Growth
- sales up 27.9% in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: DoorDash, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18
- Off-calendar year
- its fiscal year ends in December (0.0) Source: DoorDash, Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-18