BW 50 Interactive Scoreboard
Special Report The BusinessWeek 50
Slide Show The BusinessWeek 50 Rankings
Slide Show The BusinessWeek 50 Sector Breakdown
Video Michael Mandel Talks About the BW 50
Methodology How the 50 Made the Cut
Here's our annual list of the 50 best corporate performers. To arrive at the BusinessWeek 50, we run proprietary data screens on all of the companies in the S&P 500 index. Some of the metrics we use include sales growth rate and return on invested capital. All the companies are measured over time, to reward a sustained performance and to weed out one-year wonders. A board of BusinessWeek editors and correspondents vet the list, for insights and commonsense judgments that purely financial measures can't provide. You can sift through the interactive ranking below, to see how the BusinessWeek 50 companies stack up on any number of financial or qualitative measures.
| 2008 Rank  | 2007 Rank  | Company Name | Overall Grade | Profitability % | Profitability Grade | Sales Growth Rate % | Sales Growth Grade | Market Value* ($bil) | 12-mo. Sales ($bil) | 12-mo. Net Income ($bil) | One-yr. Total Return | Three-yr. Total Return | Sector |
| COACH | A | A | A | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| GILEAD SCIENCES | A | A | A | Health Care | |||||||||
| ALLEGHENY TECHNOLOGIES | A | A | A | Materials | |||||||||
| VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS | A | A | A- | Telecommunication Services | |||||||||
| QUESTAR | A | A | A- | Utilities | |||||||||
| APPLE | A | A | A | Information Technology | |||||||||
| COLGATE-PALMOLIVE | A | A | B- | Consumer Staples | |||||||||
| NA | BJ SERVICES | A | A | C | Energy | ||||||||
| NA | ABERCROMBIE & FITCH | A | A | A | Consumer Discretionary | ||||||||
| NA | MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS | A | A | B+ | Information Technology | ||||||||
| CB RICHARD ELLIS GROUP | A | A | A | Financials | |||||||||
| NA | ROBINSON (C.H.) WORLDWIDE | A | A | A- | Industrials | ||||||||
| NA | INTERCONTINENTALEXCHANGE | A | A | A | Financials | ||||||||
| NA | UNITEDHEALTH GROUP | A | A | A | Health Care | ||||||||
| CME GROUP | A | A | A | Financials | |||||||||
| STARBUCKS | A | A | A | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL | A | A | A- | Industrials | |||||||||
| AVON PRODUCTS | A | A | B- | Consumer Staples | |||||||||
| COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS | A | A- | A | Information Technology | |||||||||
| SUNOCO | A | A | C | Energy | |||||||||
| GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP | A | A | A- | Financials | |||||||||
| NA | EXELON | A | A | B | Utilities | ||||||||
| AMAZON.COM | A | A- | A | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| ROCKWELL COLLINS | A | A | B- | Industrials | |||||||||
| NUCOR | A | A | B+ | Materials | |||||||||
| VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS | A | A | B- | Health Care | |||||||||
| AT&T | A | A- | A | Telecommunication Services | |||||||||
| NA | AUTODESK | A | A | B | Information Technology | ||||||||
| PRICE (T. ROWE) GROUP | A | A | B+ | Financials | |||||||||
| BED BATH & BEYOND | A | A | B+ | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| PEPSICO | A- | A | B+ | Consumer Staples | |||||||||
| NA | EXPEDITORS INTL. OF WASHINGTON | A- | A | B+ | Industrials | ||||||||
| LEHMAN BROTHERS HOLDINGS | A- | A- | A | Financials | |||||||||
| A- | B+ | A | Information Technology | ||||||||||
| NA | SCHLUMBERGER | A- | A | B | Energy | ||||||||
| BEST BUY | A- | A | A- | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| IMS HEALTH | A- | A | C+ | Health Care | |||||||||
| PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP | A- | A- | A- | Financials | |||||||||
| CONSTELLATION ENERGY GROUP | A- | B+ | A | Utilities | |||||||||
| SHERWIN-WILLIAMS | A- | A | B- | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| MICROSOFT | A- | A | C+ | Information Technology | |||||||||
| NA | PRECISION CASTPARTS | A- | B+ | A | Industrials | ||||||||
| NA | TITANIUM METALS | A- | A- | A | Materials | ||||||||
| MOODY'S | A- | A | C | Financials | |||||||||
| NA | COCA-COLA | A- | A | B | Consumer Staples | ||||||||
| NA | BARR PHARMACEUTICALS | A- | B+ | A | Health Care | ||||||||
| TJX | A- | A | C | Consumer Discretionary | |||||||||
| NA | CENTURYTEL | A- | A- | B+ | Telecommunication Services | ||||||||
| NA | NVIDIA | A- | A- | A- | Information Technology | ||||||||
| NA | EXXON MOBIL | A- | A | C | Energy | ||||||||
PROFITABILITY For nonfinancial companies, three-year average pretax operating profit before interest and special items as a percentage of average invested capital. For financial companies, pretax profits as a percentage of average shareholders' equity.
SALES GROWTH RATE Three-year average annual sales growth based on the most recently reported 36 months, calculated using the least-squares method. For financial companies, three-year average annual asset growth is used.
MARKET VALUE Share price on Mar. 13, 2008, multiplied by the latest available common shares outstanding.
TOTAL RETURN (1-YEAR ) Annual dividend per share, reinvested, plus Mar. 13, 2008, share price, as a percent of Mar. 13, 2007, share price.
TOTAL RETURN (3-YEAR ) Annual dividend per share, reinvested, plus Mar. 13, 2008, share price, as a percent of Mar. 11, 2005, share price.
SALES Latest available sales through the most recent 12 months. Includes all sales and other operating revenues. For financial service companies, this includes interest and noninterest income; for banks, it includes revenues for all banking operations.
PROFITS Latest available profits through the most recent 12 months. Net income from continuing operations before extraordinary items.
GRADES The overall sector letter grade reflects how the weighted average of the ranked return on capital and ranked sales growth compares with others in the same sector. For the overall grade as well as the ROE/ROI and sales growth grades, an "A" places a company in the top 7% of its sector and an "A-" in the top 14% of the sector. The actual ranking was done using the underlying numerical measures. Grades are for information only. Some grades were adjusted for the small size of the sector
Companies with no ranking for 2007 did not make the BW 50 list or the additional 25 published online.
* Data compiled on 3/13/2008
Data by: Standard & Poor's Compustat
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