[LatteLazy]

How many actual companies manage to find a SECOND money printing opportunity that is not basically just their first one expanded a little?

Amazon maybe because AWS is not retail/logistics etc. Maybe Sony because they have (had) a decent sized film studio? Pretty much no one else.

No one wants to admit it, but economically a company with a decent position (like google) SHOULD ruthlessly cost cut, pump out dividends and leave research/innovation to nimble start ups. From a purely Dollar point of view, that is the correct approach...

[ajmurmann]

Apple had multiple money printers. Disney with parks in addition to movies. Netflix switched from dominating with envelopes to pioneering streaming. Intel famously switched from memory to CPUs.

I agree though that returning cash to shareholders should be more common when there are no good investment opportunities for the company. The book The Outsiders goes into several super successful CEOs who have the common thread of treating their business like an investment portfolio. I'd strongly suggest stock buybacks over dividends though because that gives control to the shareholders about when the taxable event occurs and will typically lead to lower taxes. It's somehow frowned upon by the general public, but it's very similar in what it does to dividends but more efficient at it.

[Hnaomyiph]

I don’t agree with their, or any company’s search for a second money printing machine. I don’t think companies should strive for parabolic growth, it is inherently unsustainable in almost ever imaginable facet, but that is what the market seems to want/expect, which then drives companies to their own downfall and they desperately try to cling onto the same growth they’ve seen in previous years.

Greed is the ultimate killer of innovation and sustainable business practices. But the board/c-suite doesn’t care unless it’s the one holding the bag at the end.

[rcme]

Microsoft has office, Windows, games, and maybe OpenAI.