Someone else already paid for the growth: management describes an outside party bearing the cost, risk, or work that exp
The model's full reasoning — Q2 2023 call → NOWe need to determine if management describes an outside party already bearing the cost, risk, or work of expanding the company's business. The key is whether the growth is being financed/executed by others, with the payoff mostly ahead. Looking at the transcript, there are mentions of partnerships, but let's examine specifics. David Solomon discusses the credit card partnerships with Apple and GM. He says: "We've also said very clearly that our credit card partnerships are long-term partnerships. We don't have unilateral rights with them. They definitely can operate better. We've been working hard to improve the operation of them which will reduce the drag and we're making good progress on that. And we're working with Apple and also with GM to do that." This is about improving operations, not about outside parties funding expansion. Also, the Apple savings platform is mentioned: "We launched an Apple savings platform which also was a successful launch to grow our deposit base." That is a product launch, but it's not clear that Apple is bearing the cost or risk of expanding Goldman's business. It's a partnership where Goldman provides the banking services, but the expansion is Goldman's own. There is also mention of third-party fundraising in asset management: "Gross third-party fundraising was $11 billion for the quarter and $25 billion for the first half of the year." That is investors putting money into funds, but that is the company's asset management business where they manage money for clients. That is not an outside party bearing the cost of expanding the company's business; it's the company's core business of managing assets. The company earns fees, but the investors are the customers, not the ones financing the company's expansion. The question is about an outside party spending its own money to directly enlarge what the company sells, serves, or earns. For example, a partner building infrastructure, a customer prepaying, etc. Here, the partnerships with Apple and GM are about credit cards and savings, but the company is the one providing the banking services. The outside party (Apple, GM) is not bearing the cost of expanding Goldman's business; they are co-branding but Goldman is the bank. The expansion of the deposit base is Goldman's own effort. Also, there is mention of reducing the historical principal investment portfolio, selling assets, etc.
| Ticker | Company | Call | Date | Call grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IMAX | IMAX Corporation | Q2 2023 | 2023-07-26 | B+ |
| FAT | FAT Brands Inc. | Q4 2021 | 2022-03-21 | F |
| VVV | Valvoline Inc. | Q1 2022 | 2022-02-09 | C+ |
| YUM | Yum! Brands, Inc. | Q2 2018 | 2018-08-02 | C |
| ILMN | Illumina, Inc. | Q1 2018 | 2018-04-24 | A |
| PCRX | Pacira BioSciences, Inc. | Q4 2017 | 2018-02-28 | C |
| INST | Instructure's | Q4 2017 | 2018-02-12 | B+ |
| AOSL | Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited | Q2 2018 | 2018-02-07 | B |
| MITK | Mitek Systems, Inc. | Q4 2017 | 2017-11-07 | C+ |
| SNA | Snap-on Incorporated | Q3 2017 | 2017-10-19 | B |
| PLAB | Photronics, Inc. | Q2 2017 | 2017-05-17 | C+ |
| IONS | Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Q1 2017 | 2017-05-09 | C |
| MGNX | MacroGenics, Inc. | Q3 2016 | 2016-11-02 | D |
| CRIS | Curis, Inc. | Q1 2016 | 2016-05-09 | C |
INST · Q4 2017 → YESThe question is about whether management describes an outside party already bearing the cost, risk, or work of expanding the company's business, with the effort real and underway now, but the resultin...YES The transcript shows management describing the Paychex partnership as a white-label reseller arrangement where Paychex is already bearing the cost, risk, and work of expanding Instructure’s business by offering Bridge Learn to its 0.5 million customers (6 million users) using its own salesforce and customer base — a real, underway effort since the partnership was entered into and integration is already in progress. Management explicitly states Paychex owns the customers and will sell the product, while Instructure is only powering the backend, and the resulting revenue is still mostly ahead (they are optimistic about significant success by year-end). This matches 100% of the required criteria.
PLAB · Q2 2017 → YESThe question is about whether management describes an outside party already bearing the cost, risk, or work of expanding the company's business, with the effort real and underway now, but the resultin...YES The transcript shows management describing the DNP JV as an outside party already bearing the bulk of the expansion costs and risks for the new China facility (the $160 million Xiamen site, previously announced as a company-led greenfield build last August). Peter Kirlin notes they will "utilize all cash held in Taiwan and greater reduced to risk of ramping of our new factory in China," while Sean Smith confirms they are "sharing that total investment of 160 million as we in essence have a 50-50 partnership, however we will consolidate it" and will "share equitably the startup cost.
YUM · Q2 2018 → YESThe question is about whether management describes an outside party already bearing the cost, risk, or work of expanding the company's business, with the effort real and underway now, but the resultin...YES The transcript shows management describing real, ongoing outside efforts by franchisees and partners already bearing the cost, risk, and work of expansion. Franchisees are actively spending their own capital to open units (e.g., 482 net new units YTD vs. 317 last year; KFC opening nearly 200 2Q units; Pizza Hut 6% net new unit growth; Taco Bell 9 international units), with the company 97% franchised and on track for 98%. These efforts are already in motion and contributing to current results, while management highlights acceleration and future ramp (e.g.