The Cisco Systems logo is seen in front of the company's headquarters in San Jose, California.
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Google (GOOG) fired a very small number of people last year. If the company wants to control personnel costs, it can simply stop hiring. Google has been adding employees at a dizzying rate for four years. Google, like Apple, has a tremendous interest in keeping its R&D, marketing, product development, and engineering projects going forward as rivals like Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo! (YHOO) falter. Google has a chance to pick up market share from both companies and improve its competitive position against Microsoft in the PC application business. It can significantly improve its edge by putting money into initiatives while its rivals are cautious or under-funded. The world's largest search company has $14 billion in cash and no debt. It is adding to that cash base at the rate of about $1.5 billion a quarter.
Colgate (CL) has "side-stepped the global slowdown" as MarketWatch recently wrote. In the most recent quarter the company's profits were up 20%. It would be hard to pick a better time to sell toothpaste, pet food, and shampoo. Even in a bad economy, most of these are products will have stable sales.
Verizon (VZ) is not growing as fast as it was a year ago. Cellular sales are not quite as good due to market saturation and the economy. But, the use of wireless devices for sending items like data and video over wireless networks is improving margins in the company's cellular operations. Verizon has also made a major gamble that it can take home broadband and television services away from the cable companies. It will need to continue to market, service, and build the infrastructure out for that to get a return on its multi-billion capital investment. Verizon removed a very small number of people who serviced its Circuit City locations when the retailer folded. The one business that Verizon has been struggling with is its wireline to the home business — the traditional phone. The company has already cut 2,700 people to keep costs in that operation down. Its plan to market inexpensive home service should help attrition in that part of its business and help to preserve jobs.
Amgen (AMGN) is still growing rapidly unlike most Big Pharma companies. Its biotech business is producing novel medical treatments that have kept Amgen's sales solid while old line drug companies have been shrinking. In the fourth quarter, Amgen spent $770 million on R&D and needs to do so to both further refine and develop new drugs. The firm is not cutting back on the essentials for keeping its product mix strong simply because the economy is weak. Amgen expects to bring in $15 billion in revenue this year, about flat with 2008. Amgen has several products in trials and some show enough promise to help push new product revenue up significantly over the next two or three years. Amgen has almost $10 billion in cash and every reason to push for market share while large drug companies are on the ropes.
Corinthian College (COCO) shares are up well over 100% this year. It is another highly successful company in the education field which should benefit from the need of people out of work to develop new skills. In the most recent quarter, the company's profits rose 86% and it increased its forecast for the current year. The firm's CEO recently said "Although difficult to quantify, current trends indicate that the recession has helped increase marketing leads and student enrollment." It sounds like Corinthian may be hiring. On-line education is definitely in the boom phase of expansion.
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