Here’s a profile of a company. Do you want to buy the stock? This company will be profitable for each of the next 15 years. Both sales and net income will grow at close to a 40 percent compound annual rate. The company will also initiate a dividend in the third year, which will grow at nearly a 50 percent compound annual rate through the end of the period. Here’s another profile. Do you want to buy the stock? This company will have negative free cash flow for each of the next 15 years. The level of debt will grow at a 34 percent compound annual rate over this time. Its cash balance will start at 2.5 percent of sales and will dwindle to 2.0 percent by the end of the period. The answer to both questions should be “yes.” As you may have guessed, this is the same company, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., from 1972-1986. The annual total shareholder return of Walmart’s stock during this period was 29 percent versus the S&P 500’s 11 percent.