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Back to the June 7, 2004 Issue
Special Report: Hot Growth
HOT GROWTH COMPANIES
Hot Growth 2004 Scoreboard
To win a position in this table, a company must excel in three ways. The selection process begins by ranking companies according to their three-year results in sales growth, earnings growth, and return on invested capital. The ranks in the table are calculated from these numbers. A company's composite rank is the sum of 0.5 times its rank in return on total capital plus 0.25 times each of its growth ranks.

Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
BW
Rank
Company Name
12 Mo.
Sales
$ Mil.
12 Mo.
 Earnings 
$ Mil.
3-Yr. Avg.
 Increase(%) 
Sales
3-Yr. Avg.
 Increase(%) 
Profits
3-Yr. Avg.
Return(%)
 On Capital 
 52-Week 
High
 52-Week 
Low
Price
as of
 5/5/04 
P-E
Ratio
Market
Value
$ Mil.
1PETMED EXPRESS87.4 6.2 102.2 173.9 51.5 13 - 3 11 37 212 
Online, phone, and mail-order retailer of pills for pets
2UNIVERSAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE210.2 23.2 29.1 1,242.9 68.5 48 - 24 46 53 1,280 
It trains car technicians
3UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX ONLINE664.2 145.4 73.7 86.6 35.3 94 - 41 87 71 1,383 
Higher education in virtual classrooms
4MULTIMEDIA GAMES427.4 32.0 61.7 137.0 28.7 27 - 10 23 21 635 
It laid a bet on electronic gambling
5AEROPOSTALE734.9 54.3 53.7 88.2 28.2 25 - 11 24 26 1,330 
Clothing stores for fashionable teens
6HEADWATERS433.9 50.5 140.5 43.1 29.8 30 - 13 23 14 746 
Services for the energy industry; turning coal sludge into synth fuel
7CORINTHIAN COLLEGES726.1 80.6 44.1 61.2 24.4 36 - 22 31 36 2,816 
For-profit provider of career-oriented education
8CHICO'S FAS768.5 100.2 43.3 52.9 27.4 48 - 19 44 38 3,827 
Retailer of women’s fashions and accessories
9USANA HEALTH SCIENCES220.9 23.5 17.5 107.5 32.3 39 - 14 27 24 525 
Nutritional supplements, foods, and body-care products
10COACH1,214.5 225.9 19.9 53.7 35.1 45 - 21 44 37 8,177 
Designer and manufacturer of leather goods and accessories
11MTC TECHNOLOGIES212.5 13.9 34.7 27.1 32.5 33 - 18 27 26 352 
Info tech services for the U.S. government and commercial clients
12EON LABS362.9 87.3 40.9 92.9 15.9 74 - 27 69 36 3,074 
Manufactures generic drugs
13COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS413.5 67.0 38.0 48.8 18.5 57 - 18 45 47 2,887 
Business outsourcing and consulting for tech needs
14CENTRAL EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTION429.1 15.1 50.0 155.3 15.0 42 - 18 32 22 345 
Importers of beer, wine, and spirits in Poland
15K-SWISS465.4 58.7 24.5 35.3 22.3 28 - 14 19 13 687 
The athletic shoemaker also sells clothes and accessories
16BIO-REFERENCE LABORATORIES114.2 7.0 18.1 271.7 17.2 23 - 5 14 26 162 
Its Northeast labs do clinical tests and diagnosis
17HOT TOPIC572.0 48.0 30.7 26.7 21.2 32 - 15 23 24 1,102 
These stores carry the fashion and music trends of teens and tweens
18BRADLEY PHARMACEUTICALS84.8 20.2 58.6 115.8 13.5 33 - 15 27 19 419 
Dermatology, respiratory, gastroenterology, and nutritional products
19SHUFFLE MASTER68.8 18.0 19.8 25.2 30.3 36 - 15 34 48 839 
Manufacturer of casino products
20DICK'S SPORTING GOODS1,470.8 52.8 18.1 50.4 21.2 31 - 13 28 27 1,302 
The retailer sells athletic gear, apparel, and equipment
21CAREER EDUCATION1,345.8 141.7 53.3 75.2 14.1 71 - 29 69 50 6,893 
Programs in info tech, health care, and other fields
22STRAYER EDUCATION146.4 33.7 23.5 15.5 26.7 130 - 63 124 55 1,327 
Offers degrees to working adults at Eastern U.S. campuses and online
23MERIT MEDICAL SYSTEMS141.9 17.9 13.9 162.2 16.1 25 - 10 15 23 402 
Products used in cardiology and radiology procedures
24FLIR SYSTEMS351.7 48.2 19.0 31.3 20.3 50 - 25 46 33 1,525 
See in the dark with its thermal-imaging cameras
25ESCALADE227.9 15.4 22.0 19.9 21.2 41 - 13 35 15 227 
Manufacturer of sporting goods and office equipment
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A indicates that a company also appeared in last year's rankings (June 9, 2003).

Companies were drawn from Standard & Poor’s Compustat database of more than 10,000 publicly traded corporations. To qualify, a company must have annual sales of more than $50 million and less than $1.5 billion, a current market value greater than $25 million, a current stock price of at least $5, and be actively traded. Banks, insurers, real estate firms, and utilities are excluded. So are companies with declines in current financial results or in stock price, as well as companies where other developments raise questions about future performance.

SALES and EARNINGS are the latest figures available through the most recent 12 months. Earnings include net income from continuing operations before gains or losses from extraordinary items.

INCREASES in SALES and PROFITS are calculated using the least-squares method. If results for the earliest year are negative, the average is for two years.

RETURN ON CAPITAL is earnings expressed as a percent of debt and equity. For ranking purposes, the maximum allowable annual return on invested capital is 100%. If companies have made substantial accounting restatements, long-term returns may be averaged for two years instead of three years.

Time periods vary according to the month of a company's fiscal yearend. Profitability and growth are calculated based on the most recently available data.

STOCK PRICE data are as of May 5, 2004.



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