10 Large U.S. Companies That Won't Cut Jobs

Cisco

Cisco (CSCO) cut 3,000 of its 66,000 people last year. The CEO has said that the company plans to avoid job cuts. It probably has as much or more cash on hand as any tech company in the U.S., holding $27B in available funds. It's in the midst of a very rapid expansion into the server & data center business. That will require extra personnel and may involve acquisitions. Cisco is in several businesses which are nearly recession-proof and should continue to do well, including video conferencing which may actually grow as business people cut back on travel.
Next: Visa

Visa

Visa (V) is lucky. It does not offer consumers credit. It acts as an agent to transfer funds between buyers and merchants. Visa also handles transaction clearing and settlement services. Unlike large banks, when a customer defaults, Visa’s balance sheet is not at risk. The company’s role as an intermediary makes it an attractive investment. Over the last month the DJIA average was down slightly while Visa shares were up 32%. In the last quarter, Visa’s profits rose 35%.
Next: Apple

Apple

Apple (AAPL) will not lay people off because Steve Jobs would have to admit he had made a bad decision and the company would appear not to be perfect. This is, of course, only part of the reason. The company has $24B in cash and securities and adds to that every quarter. It refuses to make acquisitions, preferring to create and market its own products. M&A deals often mean job cuts. Because Apple’s success is based on creating new products, improving old ones and aggressive marketing, it will need all the people who work at the company and perhaps more. Next: Apollo

Apollo

Apollo (APOL) is a large education company almost no one has heard of. The firm has a stock market value of $12B and had sales of $970M last quarter. Its operating profit on that was $307M, so the company has obscene margins. In the last year, its shares were up almost 30%. While Apollo may not be well-known, it largest division, the University of Phoenix, is -- it's the largest private university in America. As people find that they need new skills to find work, Apollo is in a position to take advantage of a drop in the economy and rise in unemployment.
Next: Altria

Altria

Altria (MO) is doing well because people addicted to cigarettes smoke even during a recession. The company said it expects EPS growth of as much as 6% this year. Altria recently bought another tobacco company,UST and the company has set layoffs because of the acquisition. However, Wall St believes that “sin stocks” tend to dodge downturns well. In the last quarter, the company made $1.1 billion on $4.7 billion in sales. Altria has almost $8 billion in cash and a business which is, compared to most, smokin’.
Next: Google

Google

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 and Yahoo! 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.
Next: Colgate

Colgate

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.
Next: Verizon

Verizon

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.
Next: Amgen

Amgen

Amgen (AMGN) is still growing rapidly unlike most Big Pharma companies. Its biotech business is producing novel medical treatments that have kept its' sales solid. The firm is not cutting back on the essentials for keeping its product mix strong simply because the economy is weak. It 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 $10B in cash and every reason to push for market share while large drug companies are on the ropes.
Next: Corinthian College

Corinthian College

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 its' 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." On-line education is definitely in the boom phase of expansion.
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