Companies · Puzzle #9 · Thursday, October 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
- Dividends: 1 pt per doubling over $5M, last year
- Workforce: 1.5 pts per doubling over 2,500 staff, at year end
- Profit: 1.5 pts per doubling over $150M, last year
- Inventory: 1.5 pts per doubling over $100M, at year end
- Heritage: 1 pt per 15 years old
- Cash on hand: 1.5 pts per doubling over $200M, at year end
- Assets: 1.5 pts per doubling over $3B, at year end
- Growth: 1 pt per 2.5% sales growth, last year
The best board
- UPS in Workforce: 460,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
- Kraft Heinz in Heritage: founded in 1869, 157 years ago (10.0)
- Gilead in Dividends: $4.0B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (9.6)
- General Dynamics in Inventory: $9.2B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (9.8)
- Dick's Sporting Goods in Growth: sales up 28.1% in the year to January 2026 (10.0)
- NextEra Energy in Assets: $212.7B in assets at the end of December 2025 (9.2)
- Alphabet (Google) in Profit: $132.2B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0)
- American Express in Cash on hand: $47.8B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0)
The most this board could score: 78.6 of 80.
The lineup, figure by figure
UPS
Package delivery, in the brown trucks
- Dividends
- $5.4B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Workforce
- 460,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Profit
- $5.6B profit in the year to December 2025 (7.8) Source: UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Inventory
- $739M of inventory at the end of December 2025 (4.3) Source: UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Heritage
- founded in 1907, 119 years ago (7.9) Source: UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Cash on hand
- $5.9B in cash at the end of December 2025 (7.3) Source: UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Assets
- $73.1B in assets at the end of December 2025 (6.9) Source: UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
- Growth
- sales down 2.6% in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-17
Kraft Heinz
Heinz ketchup, Kraft Mac & Cheese and Oscar Mayer
- Dividends
- $1.9B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (8.6) Source: Kraft Heinz Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Workforce
- 35,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (5.7) Source: Kraft Heinz Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Profit
- a $5.8B loss in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: Kraft Heinz Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Inventory
- $3.2B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (7.5) Source: Kraft Heinz Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Heritage
- founded in 1869, 157 years ago (10.0) Source: Kraft Heinz Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Cash on hand
- $2.6B in cash at the end of December 2025 (5.6) Source: Kraft Heinz Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Assets
- $81.8B in assets at the end of December 2025 (7.2) Source: Kraft Heinz Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
- Growth
- sales down 3.5% in the year to December 2025 (0.0) Source: Kraft Heinz Co 10-K, filed 2026-02-12
Gilead
Biotech drugmaker of HIV and hepatitis medicines
- Dividends
- $4.0B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (9.6) Source: GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Workforce
- 17,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (4.1) Source: GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Profit
- $8.5B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.7) Source: GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Inventory
- $1.8B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (6.2) Source: GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Heritage
- founded in 1987, 39 years ago (2.6) Source: GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Cash on hand
- $7.6B in cash at the end of December 2025 (7.9) Source: GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Assets
- $59.0B in assets at the end of December 2025 (6.4) Source: GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
- Growth
- sales up 2.4% in the year to December 2025 (1.0) Source: GILEAD SCIENCES, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-02-24
General Dynamics
Gulfstream jets, submarines and tanks
- Dividends
- $1.6B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (8.3) Source: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Workforce
- 117,000 employees at the end of December 2025 (8.3) Source: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Profit
- $4.2B profit in the year to December 2025 (7.2) Source: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Inventory
- $9.2B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (9.8) Source: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Heritage
- founded in 1952, 74 years ago (4.9) Source: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Cash on hand
- $2.3B in cash at the end of December 2025 (5.3) Source: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Assets
- $57.2B in assets at the end of December 2025 (6.4) Source: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
- Growth
- sales up 10.1% in the year to December 2025 (4.1) Source: GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 10-K, filed 2026-01-30
Dick's Sporting Goods
Sporting goods stores
- Dividends
- $414M paid in dividends in the year to January 2026 (6.4) Source: DICK'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-27
- Workforce
- 105,200 employees at the end of January 2026 (8.1) Source: DICK'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-27
- Profit
- $849M profit in the year to January 2026 (3.8) Source: DICK'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-27
- Inventory
- $4.9B of inventory at the end of January 2026 (8.4) Source: DICK'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-27
- Heritage
- founded in 1948, 78 years ago (5.2) Source: DICK'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-27
- Cash on hand
- $1.4B in cash at the end of January 2026 (4.1) Source: DICK'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-27
- Assets
- $17.4B in assets at the end of January 2026 (3.8) Source: DICK'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-27
- Growth
- sales up 28.1% in the year to January 2026 (10.0) Source: DICK'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. 10-K, filed 2026-03-27
NextEra Energy
Electric utility and wind and solar power
- Dividends
- $4.7B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (9.9) Source: NEXTERA ENERGY INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Workforce
- 17,400 employees at the end of December 2025 (4.2) Source: NEXTERA ENERGY INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Profit
- $6.8B profit in the year to December 2025 (8.3) Source: NEXTERA ENERGY INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Inventory
- $2.4B of inventory at the end of December 2025 (6.9) Source: NEXTERA ENERGY INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Heritage
- founded in 1925, 101 years ago (6.7) Source: NEXTERA ENERGY INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Cash on hand
- $2.8B in cash at the end of December 2025 (5.7) Source: NEXTERA ENERGY INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Assets
- $212.7B in assets at the end of December 2025 (9.2) Source: NEXTERA ENERGY INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
- Growth
- sales up 9.8% in the year to December 2025 (3.9) Source: NEXTERA ENERGY INC 10-K, filed 2026-02-13
Alphabet (Google)
Google Search, YouTube and Android
- Dividends
- $10.0B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Alphabet Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-05
- Workforce
- 190,820 employees at the end of December 2025 (9.4) Source: Alphabet Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-05
- Profit
- $132.2B profit in the year to December 2025 (10.0) Source: Alphabet Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-05
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: Alphabet Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-05
- Heritage
- founded in 1998, 28 years ago (1.9) Source: Alphabet Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-05
- Cash on hand
- $30.7B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: Alphabet Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-05
- Assets
- $595.3B in assets at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: Alphabet Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-05
- Growth
- sales up 15.1% in the year to December 2025 (6.0) Source: Alphabet Inc. 10-K, filed 2026-02-05
American Express
Credit and charge cards
- Dividends
- $2.3B paid in dividends in the year to December 2025 (8.8) Source: AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Workforce
- 76,800 employees at the end of December 2025 (7.4) Source: AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Profit
- $10.8B profit in the year to December 2025 (9.3) Source: AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Inventory
- no inventory at the end of December 2025 (0.0) Source: AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Heritage
- founded in 1850, 176 years ago (10.0) Source: AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Cash on hand
- $47.8B in cash at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Assets
- $300.1B in assets at the end of December 2025 (10.0) Source: AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-06
- Growth
- sales up 9.5% in the year to December 2025 (3.8) Source: AMERICAN EXPRESS CO 10-K, filed 2026-02-06