Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose

6. Investors—Reaping What FoEs Sow

Chris is an accomplished investment manager for one of the largest financial institutions in the United States. At a meeting convened in the fall of 2005 to discuss the establishment of an FoE investment fund, Chris said he had been following FoE Whole Foods for sometime. "When each quarter's reports come in, I say to myself, 'The PE (stock price to earnings per share) ratio can't go any higher.' But it always does." At the time of the investment fund meeting, Whole Foods Market's stock had gained 70 percent for the year. Who would have believed that a grocery company in perhaps the narrowest margin business of all could turn in such a performance? Chris confessed to being bewildered by this phenomenon. However, ...