24/7 Wall St. asked Corebrand, the brand research and consulting firm, to look at the top 100 brands based their contribution to market capitalizaton. Using this method, the hardest working brand was Hershey (NYSE:HSY), followed  by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG)

Corebrand described the process briefly to 24/7 Wall. St.

24/7 Wall St.: Corebard often refers to the brands on this list as the”hardest working brands”. How did you come to that description?

Corebrand: There are a lot of people measuring and examining the “strongest brands” or the “most valuable brands”.  Our opinion is that examining one without the other is somewhat meaningless.  How “strong” a brand is nice to know but not very relevant unless you understand how that strength benefits business.  Similarly, “value” is little more than a measure of corporate size unless you understand the drivers of that value and how to influence it. By examining the strength of the brand and it’s contribution to total market value, we can help companies and their leadership manage that strength and value over time.

24/7 Wall St.: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having a brand value be a very large percentage of market cap in the present and as an indication of a company’s future performance?

Corebrand: The brand will need to be in balance with the rest of the company’s assets.  A company should strive to have it’s brand strong enough to fend off competitors or changing market conditions but not so strong that it becomes overly dependent on the brand as a single driver of value.  If a company can achieve and maintain its appropriate maximum strength without becoming over-dependent, it will see greater returns in bull markets and retain greater value in bear markets.

The list:

Each year, on a rolling basis, CoreBrand conducts 8,000 telephone interviews among business leaders to measure their perceptions of some of the world’s best corporate brands. Respondents are business decision-makers from the top 20% of U.S. businesses.

This senior business audience (VP level and above) represents the investment community, potential business partners, and business customers across 49 key industries. 400 respondents rate each company per year; 800 companies are measured each year. Our reports are updated on a quarterly basis to reflect any subtle changes.

CoreBrand collects financial performance data and communications investment information to understand the support behind and impact of these brands. These corporate brand strength ratings, as well as a company’s financial data are used in CoreBrand’s statistical model to determine the percentage of market capitalization that is directly derived from the corporate brand. Once that percentage is calculated, a dollar value is assigned to the corporate brand.

The percentage of market capitalization, attributable to the corporate brand. The percentage is then translated into a dollar value, based on the current market capitalization. The analysis is examined over time, to determine if the corporate brand is a growing or declining asset.

Douglas A. McIntyre

• Akamai (AKAM) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
• Avon (AVP) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
• CB Richard Ellis (CBG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
• FedEx (FDX) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• General Growth Properties (GGP) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
• Hologic (HOLX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
• Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Temple-Inland (TIN) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• THQ (THQI) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Timberland (TBL) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
• T.Rowe Price (TROW) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• USANA (USNA) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.

Jon C. Ogg
July 31, 2008

Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW) boosted its buyback plan Thursday by approving an additional $500 million in buybacks, making the total buyback amount $619 million. Charles Schwab’s market cap is $23.6 billion.

DiamondRock Hospitality Co. (NYSE: DRH), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced on Monday that up to 4.8 million shares were approved for repurchase. $1.24 billion is their current market cap.  It isn’t unique, but REIT’s rarely repurchase shares compared to other sectors because they have to distribute most of their income.

Liberty Media Capital (NASDAQ: LCAPA) has approved $1 Billion in repurchases of Liberty Entertainment common stock and $300 million of Liberty Capital common stock on Monday. Their market cap is $1.95 Billion.

QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) approved a $2 Billion buyback plan Tuesday. The program will replace a $3 Billion buyback that currently had $2 million remaining. The current market cap for QUALCOMM is $64.9 Billion.

Timberland Co. (NYSE: TBL) authorized on Monday another 6 million shares for repurchasing. The apparel and footwear company currently has 1 million shares left from its previous 6 million share repurchase program. They have a market cap of $816 million so this would retire close to another 10% of its stock.

Tyco Electronics, Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) also upped its buyback plan on Thursday by $500 million, reaching $1.25 billion in authorized repurchases. Since September, Tyco Electronics has repurchased $512 of its common stock. Market cap sitting at $15.7 billion.

Rachel Lopez
March 14, 2008