The San Francisco fog, a familiar friend to many Grateful Dead shows, rolled in with an unspoken acknowledgment of this special occasion. Inside the park, a blanket of people gathered across the Polo fields for the band’s 60th anniversary.

My mother, a veteran Deadhead, stood beside me, her eyes welling with tears in awe of nostalgia and revamped joy. Around us, my brothers and their buddies from college, a new generation of Deadheads, mingled along with my mom’s old friends.

But this was not the nonchalant vibe of the 1960s and 1970s nor the parking lots circus of the 1980s and 1990s.

In the early days of the band, and pretty much up to the death of Jerry Garcia and the end of the old Grateful Dead, concert tickets were intentionally kept affordable to legions of fans. (Jerry Day in the city is still free.)

This time, some tickets went for as much as $6,000. Instead of camping on friends’ couches, visitors stayed in fancy hotels like the Fairmont. Some longtime Deadheads refused to go, and one told the Standard that “Jerry is rolling over in his grave.”

The story of the Grateful Dead and San Francisco serves as a meaningful metaphor for the city and its ever-changing transformations.

The Dead, which once came from an ethos that symbolized the rejection and dismissal of greed and establishment culture, is now part of the foundation for the city’s economic strategy. The change from a movement defined by counterculture to a weekend of music that encourages spending and civic pride shows how a historically radical culture has sunk into San Francisco and has been celebrated by the very system it once sought to escape from—and a system that tried to repress it, sometimes violently, in the now-famous Summer of Love.

The Grateful Dead and this city have been linked from the very beginning. The band began here in the defiant days of the 1960s. Back then, fans of the Dead found tickets much easier to get. The access was easier, in general.

A late 1980s Deadhead told me there was a time when everyone simply ran into the field, at max spending $20-$30 for a concert into the 1990s.

As San Francisco celebrated the 60th anniversary, Dead & Company in Golden Gate Park gave a special opportunity to reflect on the band’s evolution, a story from counterculture to a cultural phenomenon—a direct mirror to the city’s own political and social change.

The Summer of Love took place in Golden Gate Park, and faced a lot of pushback from city officials. Though standing for peace, love, and the simple pleasures of good music, the rise of psychedelic drugs and a new form of rock was overwhelming for the city to manage. The “hippies” were not welcome in a lot of places, and far from celebrated by most city officials.

Today, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s administration has officially embraced the Dead & Company concerts, celebrating them as a “significant cultural milestone” and a key driver of the city’s economic recovery.

The political conversation is dominated by economic concerns right now, especially in the revitalization of San Francisco in a post-pandemic world. The city is actively promoting these concerts to attract people from all over and to boost local businesses, with posters, buses, and street signs advertising the three days of music.

Rather than talking about peace and love, the city trumpets estimates that the concerts will have a $150 million economic impact—a world apart from the anti-capitalist sentiments of the Grateful Dead, and the 1960s counterculture.

Muni was not only providing extra services, but also running Grateful-Dead-inspired buses. Hop on the bus, and it might drop you off at the legendary “Shakedown Street” in Golden Gate Park in the JFK promenade between Transverse Drive and Blue Heron Lake Drive. It was a Deadhead marketplace vendors from all over the country come to offer handmade art, shirts, crystals, roses, and enduring spirits of the Grateful Dead.

The three days of music held much more than the Dead & Company themselves. Doors opened at 2:30 PM with lines throughout the park, anticipation buzzing, and everyone coming in with the collective embrace of good music.

Billy Strings, Stergil Simpson, and Trey Anastasio opened for Dead & Company. Young and old came together to celebrate the music. Tie-dye, bubbles, and glitter were full-out signifying a diverse yet unified crowd: the timeless tunes of the Grateful Dead were the bridge of multi-generational gaps.

Dead & Company came with their imperious blend of widely loved melodies and creatively inspired interpretations of the music, delivering three nights of musical journeys. Whether you’re a fan of the Grateful Dead for 60 years, or a fan for just the weekend, the blend of music revealed beloved classics to unexpected gems.

As the final notes faded on Sunday night, a bittersweet feeling sat in the crowd that night. When the music had stopped, the echoes of good vibes continued. Bob Weir and Mickey Hart stood upon their San Francisco roots in awe of the palpable sense of community.

This weekend was something entirely built from the culture old Deadheads once knew, to the uprising of the new generation of music, with touches of different eras throughout the band’s life. The streets were dancing again. At the corner of Haight and Ashbury, hippies gathered and children sang, spanning through to Golden Gate Park. I knew these shows would be more than just a concert, but a testament to the enduring power the Grateful Dead’s music holds, no matter what point in time. 

While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. By way of learning-by-doing, we’ll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of Asian Hotels (North) Limited (NSE:ASIANHOTNR).

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company’s management is utilizing the company’s capital. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company’s shareholders.

We’ve found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free.

How Is ROE Calculated?

Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders’ Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Asian Hotels (North) is:

71% = ₹1.9b ÷ ₹2.6b (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2025).

The ‘return’ is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. One way to conceptualize this is that for each ₹1 of shareholders’ capital it has, the company made ₹0.71 in profit.

See our latest analysis for Asian Hotels (North)

Does Asian Hotels (North) Have A Good Return On Equity?

One simple way to determine if a company has a good return on equity is to compare it to the average for its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. Pleasingly, Asian Hotels (North) has a superior ROE than the average (7.3%) in the Hospitality industry.

That is a good sign. With that said, a high ROE doesn’t always indicate high profitability. Especially when a firm uses high levels of debt to finance its debt which may boost its ROE but the high leverage puts the company at risk. You can see the 3 risks we have identified for Asian Hotels (North) by visiting our risks dashboard for free on our platform here.

How Does Debt Impact Return On Equity?

Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from retained earnings, issuing new shares (equity), or debt. In the case of the first and second options, the ROE will reflect this use of cash, for growth. In the latter case, the debt used for growth will improve returns, but won’t affect the total equity. Thus the use of debt can improve ROE, albeit along with extra risk in the case of stormy weather, metaphorically speaking.

Combining Asian Hotels (North)’s Debt And Its 71% Return On Equity

Asian Hotels (North) does use a high amount of debt to increase returns. It has a debt to equity ratio of 2.10. Its ROE is pretty impressive but, it would have probably been lower without the use of debt. Debt does bring extra risk, so it’s only really worthwhile when a company generates some decent returns from it.

Conclusion

Return on equity is useful for comparing the quality of different businesses. In our books, the highest quality companies have high return on equity, despite low debt. All else being equal, a higher ROE is better.

Having said that, while ROE is a useful indicator of business quality, you’ll have to look at a whole range of factors to determine the right price to buy a stock. The rate at which profits are likely to grow, relative to the expectations of profit growth reflected in the current price, must be considered, too. You can see how the company has grow in the past by looking at this FREE detailed graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.