Not who won or lost — but the decisions that made each team's journey unique.
Irving
The Cost-Engineered Margin King
Ignite finished the simulation with a 72.8% contribution margin — the highest-margin product in the class — built on a class-low labor cost per unit. That single Low Tech product sold 9.4M units across three geographies at full second-shift plant utilization, and Irving's R8 profit of $128M closed the simulation as the largest single-round haul any team recorded. Cumulative profit reached $383M — the highest in the class — and Irving took zero emergency loans across eight rounds.
60.8%
Mean Contribution Margin (#1)
$383M
Cumulative Profit (#1)
Harper
The Multi-Geo Throughput Maximizer
Heft and Hue both finished with zero inventory and plant utilization near 200% — both products ran at effectively full two-shift capacity and sold every unit produced. Heft was the class volume leader at 9.7M units sold with a 55.0% contribution margin; Hue led High Tech in Germany. Harper held the top market share in Germany at 17.0% and ranked second in cumulative profit at $343M and second in stock, with zero emergency loans across eight rounds. Both products played into all three geographies — the only team besides Irving to combine geographic breadth with margin discipline above 50%.
$343M
Cumulative Profit (#2)
Andrews
The Volume-and-Coverage Leader
Andrews ended R8 with 13.8M units sold — more than any other team — and the #1 global market share at 18.1%, including the top share in the United States at 18.2%. Sales of $462M led the class. The portfolio carried three products (Andrews was the only team with more than two): Able in Low Tech, plus Ace and Ark in High Tech. Eight straight profitable rounds delivered $258M cumulative profit (#3), funded along the way by three emergency loans totaling $24M as the portfolio expanded.
18.1%
Global Market Share (#1)
Baldwin
The China Specialist
Baldwin closed R8 owning 22.6% of the China market — the only team holding more than 21% in any single geography — while sitting middle-of-pack overall. Baker (Low Tech) drove most of Baldwin's volume into China at premium pricing, but the trade-off showed in the cost line: Baker's 22.7% contribution margin was the thinnest Low Tech margin in the class. The High Tech product Best carried more of the profit weight at a 47.5% margin with zero unsold inventory. Cumulative profit reached $168M and stock closed at $195 — middle of the pack despite the geographic dominance.
22.6%
China Market Share (#1)
Garrett
The Balanced Two-Product Operator
Gaffe (High Tech) finished at a 51.8% contribution margin with zero inventory; Goober (Low Tech) covered the volume side at 27.5% margin. Eight straight profitable rounds and a single $3M emergency loan in R4 produced $186M cumulative profit, fourth-highest in the class. Garrett held positions across all three geographies without leading any single one. Stock closed at $173, having risen every round from R3 onward.
$186M
Cumulative Profit (#4)
51.8%
Gaffe Contribution Margin
Digby
The Lean High Tech Specialist
Digby was one of two teams (with Erie) to skip Low Tech entirely — both products (Daze and Dome) lived in High Tech. Daze finished with a 51.5% contribution margin on 3.5M units sold; Dome added 333K units at 31.9% margin. The operation ran with 359 employees (fewest in the class) and zero emergency loans across eight rounds. Cumulative profit reached $114M, and the R8 profit of $42M came on the back of Daze's clean margin rather than headcount or geography.
Chester
The Floor-to-Recovery Story
Chester closed R8 at a $58 stock — the class's most dramatic recovery from the $1 floor — climbing through $36 in R7 after two rounds at the floor. The crisis traced to an R5 operating loss of $16.3M (the second-deepest single-round loss in the class), which triggered two emergency loans across R5 and R6. Both products closed with healthy margins above 32%, but Chester sat out China entirely and held single-digit positions in the U.S. and Germany.
$1
→ $58 R6 to R8 Recovery
Ferris
The Early-Peak, Late-Recovery Arc
Ferris posted the highest R1 stock price in the class at $57, then hit the $1 floor in R3 and again in R5 before building a three-round recovery across R6–R8 to close at $51 stock. Future (Low Tech) and Fig (High Tech) both finished with margins above 32% and effectively zero unsold inventory. Germany became Ferris's stronghold at #3 share, even as the team sat out China entirely.
Erie
The R8 Operational Turnaround
Erie closed R8 with a $10M operating profit and stock back to $17 — the first round off the $1 floor since R2, after holding the floor through R3–R7. R8's profit followed an R7 return to the black, Erie's first consecutive profitable rounds since R1–R2. Both products finished with positive margins on a 100% High Tech portfolio: Edge at 19.8% under heavy labor costs, Eat at 30.1%.
