12 articles
Case Studies
These cases show how ideas from Learn played out at real companies. They are for learning only: the outcomes could not be known at the time, and past results don't predict the future.
CAT2012–2018
Caterpillar: riding the economic cycle
How the maker of big yellow machines saw its sales fall by more than 40% when mining and oil slowed down, and how it came back.
MSFT2014–2020
Microsoft: changing direction
How a large, established company moved its business toward the cloud, and what the change looked like in its numbers.
TSLA2015–2021
Tesla: years of burning cash
How a young, fast-growing company paid for its expansion while losing money, and what changed when it became profitable.
KHC2016–2021
Kraft Heinz: a big merger and a big write-down
How one of the largest food mergers relied on cutting costs, and what happened when its famous brands lost value on paper.
BA2017–2021
Boeing: when the unexpected hits
How a crisis with one product, followed by the pandemic, changed a large company's finances.
KO2017–2022
Coca-Cola: slow and steady
What the numbers of a mature company look like, and why a fall in revenue isn't always what it seems.
NFLX2019–2024
Netflix: when growth slows down
How investors reacted when a fast-growing company reported that it had lost subscribers, and what happened next.
PFE2019–2024
Pfizer: when a boom ends
How a COVID vaccine and treatment more than doubled Pfizer's revenue, and what happened when demand faded.
INTC2019–2025
Intel: when a leader falls behind
How a company that led its industry for decades lost ground, and what that looked like in its margins and cash.
META2020–2024
Meta: heavy spending and falling profit
What happened when a very profitable company spent heavily on long-term bets while its main business slowed.
JNJ2022–2025
Johnson & Johnson: splitting a company in two
Why one of the oldest U.S. companies separated its consumer brands into a new company, and how that changed its numbers.
NVDA2022–2026
NVIDIA: high expectations and fast growth
What happened when investors paid a very high price for expected growth, and the growth arrived much faster than most forecasts.