BW 50 Scoreboard

Here's our annual list of the 50 best corporate performers. To arrive at the BusinessWeek 50, we run data screens on all of the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, focusing on sales growth rate and return on invested capital. All the companies are measured over time, to reward sustained performance, and compared against other companies in the same sector, to enable us to identify the best performers within their peer group. A board of BusinessWeek editors reviews the list, bringing the judgment that purely financial measures alone 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.

2009 Rank	2008 Rank	Company Name	Profitability %	Sales Growth Rate %	Market Value ($bil)	12-mo. Sales ($bil)	12-mo. Net Income ($bil)	One-yr. Total Return (%)	Three-yr. Total Return (%)	Sector
1	2	Gilead Sciences	48.6	38.2	40.8	5.3	2.0	-5.3	43.9	Health Care
2	NR	CF Industries Holdings	47.2	28.0	3.1	3.9	0.7	-47.0	269.4	Materials
3	NR	Diamond Offshore Drilling	40.4	40.8	8.7	3.5	1.3	-44.1	-5.1	Energy
4	NR	Windstream	19.5	3.1	3.3	3.2	0.4	-30.6	N/A	Telecommunication Services
5	7	Colgate-Palmolive	58.8	10.6	30.2	15.3	2.0	-19.0	17.8	Consumer Staples
6	12	Robinson (C.H.) Worldwide	49.7	14.4	7.0	8.6	0.4	-17.1	-3.6	Industrials
7	22	Exelon	21.4	8.3	31.1	18.9	2.7	-34.8	-10.1	Utilities
8	41	Microsoft	59.3	15.5	143.6	62.0	17.2	-39.3	-36.8	Information Technology
9	36	Best Buy	35.3	14.4	11.9	43.7	1.2	-31.9	-44.7	Consumer Discretionary
10	NR	MasterCard	49.9	19.6	20.4	5.0	-0.3	-16.6	N/A	Information Technology
11	42	Precision Castparts	32.5	28.5	7.8	7.0	1.0	-49.7	5.0	Industrials
12	26	Varian Medical Systems	40.6	14.0	3.8	2.1	0.3	-41.8	-47.3	Health Care
13	18	Avon Products	52.8	9.9	7.5	10.7	0.9	-52.3	-34.4	Consumer Staples
14	35	Schlumberger	35.4	23.5	45.4	27.2	5.4	-55.3	-31.7	Energy
15	6	Apple	32.7	27.0	79.5	33.0	4.9	-28.6	30.4	Information Technology
16	1	Coach	67.2	20.4	4.5	3.2	0.7	-53.9	-60.9	Consumer Discretionary
17	13	IntercontinentalExchange	37.7	298.5	4.1	0.8	0.3	-56.4	3.7	Financials
18	5	Questar	24.4	7.1	5.0	3.5	0.7	-47.2	-18.6	Utilities
19	NR	Fastenal	39.0	15.2	4.5	2.3	0.3	-24.1	-28.1	Industrials
20	25	Nucor	39.8	21.9	10.6	23.7	1.8	-46.0	-12.2	Materials
21	4	Verizon Communications	14.6	11.3	81.0	97.4	6.4	-16.7	1.5	Telecommunication Services
22	NR	Express Scripts	43.5	11.8	12.5	22.0	0.8	-14.9	15.3	Health Care
23	23	Amazon.com	29.2	31.9	27.7	19.2	0.6	0.5	73.1	Consumer Discretionary
24	10	MEMC Electronic Materials	48.3	22.2	3.4	2.0	0.4	-80.3	-55.2	Information Technology
25	11	CB Richard Ellis Group	37.2	24.9	0.8	5.1	-1.0	-85.6	-87.4	Financials
26	45	Coca-Cola	35.1	12.2	94.4	31.9	5.8	-28.1	5.6	Consumer Staples
27	NR	Apollo Group	100.8	12.5	11.6	3.3	0.5	18.1	46.8	Consumer Discretionary
28	32	Expeditors Intl. of Washington	35.8	13.0	5.8	5.6	0.3	-29.4	-27.8	Industrials
29	NR	Noble	30.5	36.3	6.4	3.4	1.6	-49.1	-31.9	Energy
30	NR	NASDAQ OMX Group	25.2	69.1	4.2	3.6	0.3	-49.7	-48.4	Financials
31	19	Cognizant Technology Solutions	28.3	47.3	5.4	2.8	0.4	-39.1	-36.1	Information Technology
32	16	Starbucks	30.4	15.5	6.8	10.2	0.2	-49.1	-74.8	Consumer Discretionary
33	NR	Waters	36.4	11.2	3.5	1.6	0.3	-40.9	-17.6	Health Care
34	NR	EQT	19.5	7.9	4.0	1.6	0.3	-49.0	-10.2	Utilities
35	34	Google	25.5	52.9	106.5	21.8	4.2	-28.3	-6.8	Information Technology
36	15	CME Group	24.3	146.9	12.2	2.6	0.7	-63.5	-55.5	Financials
37	NR	Manitowoc	30.1	25.9	0.5	4.5	0.1	-89.9	-78.5	Industrials
38	27	AT&T	11.9	45.6	140.1	124.0	12.9	-27.9	-1.5	Telecommunication Services
39	3	Allegheny Technologies	43.3	14.1	1.9	5.3	0.6	-74.2	-60.0	Materials
40	31	PepsiCo	36.4	10.2	74.8	43.3	5.1	-29.0	-13.1	Consumer Staples
41	NR	Intuitive Surgical	25.1	57.2	3.6	0.9	0.2	-67.7	0.8	Health Care
42	NR	Nike	29.9	11.0	20.1	19.7	1.9	-29.9	0.0	Consumer Discretionary
43	NR	Occidental Petroleum	37.1	17.4	42.0	24.2	6.8	-31.8	19.0	Energy
44	38	PNC Financial Services Group	20.8	45.8	12.1	9.5	0.9	-53.3	-56.4	Financials
45	28	Autodesk	38.9	15.0	2.9	2.3	0.2	-59.2	-66.3	Information Technology
46	17	Robert Half International	43.9	11.7	2.3	4.6	0.3	-41.7	-55.3	Industrials
47	47	TJX	47.7	5.7	9.3	19.0	0.9	-29.3	-5.5	Consumer Discretionary
48	NR	AES	14.2	16.0	4.2	16.1	1.2	-65.0	-63.6	Utilities
49	NR	Northern Trust	25.2	15.0	12.4	5.7	0.8	-16.4	10.7	Financials
50	9	Abercrombie & Fitch	43.2	8.8	1.9	3.5	0.3	-71.0	-65.9	Consumer Discretionary

PROFITABILITY: Three-year average pretax profit as a percentage of average invested capital, or in the case of financial companies, as a percentage of average equity. Operating profit for nonfinancial companies is before special items.

SALES GROWTH RATE: Three-year average annual sales growth based on 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 Feb. 27, 2009, multiplied by the latest available common shares outstanding.

SALES: Latest available sales through the most recent 12 months ended Jan. 31, 2009. Includes all sales and other operating revenues. For financial-services companies, this includes interest and non-interest income, and for banks, this includes revenues for all banking operations.

PROFITS: Latest available profits through the most recent 12 months ended Jan. 31, 2009. Net income from continuing operations before extraordinary items.

TOTAL RETURN (1 YEAR): Annual dividend per share, reinvested, plus Feb. 27, 2009, share price, as a percent of Feb. 29, 2008, share price.

TOTAL RETURN (3 YEAR): Annual dividend per share, reinvested, plus Feb. 27, 2009, share price, as a percent of Feb. 28, 2006, share price.

Companies with no ranking (NR) for 2008 did not make the BW 50 list that year.

* Data compiled on Feb. 27, 2009.

NOTE: Compustat data provided by Standard & Poor’s, from sources such as statistical services, registration statements, and company reports that S&P believes to be reliable but are not guaranteed by S&P or BusinessWeek as to correctness or completeness. This material is not an offer to buy or sell any security.

Data: Standard & Poor's Compustat