Indeed, all the companies interviewed for this article told UpsideToday that profits are not leading the charge. All are spending millions, some billions, of dollars to play. The growth has been phenomenal. Barry says that 350 corporations around the world have VC programs or make investments on a consistent basis. The entry into VC land may be recent, but many companies want analysts and other market watchers to include these substantial investment gains when evaluating the bottom line.
Analysts remain mixed on whether to include investment income in their calculations.
For many of them these profits represent one-time gains and therefore should not be included. One Intel analyst, however, says that the processor giant's consistent profit on investments makes inclusion in earnings estimations necessary. Overall, the analysts interviewed for this story find the business strategy component compelling. VC funding keeps these companies ahead of the game and helps them identify potential acquisitions, they say. This strategy also allows them to not only beat the competition but also to create new competition.