Four Orange County companies made Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of the 500 largest publicly traded U.S. companies this year.
The county’s contingent is one lighter than last year after Fluor Corp. moved from Aliso Viejo to Las Colinas near Dallas last year.
Two years ago, the county had six companies among the Fortune 500, a number that has slipped with moves, buyouts and falling fortunes.
Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc., a distributor of technology products, again is the highest ranking local company at No. 70.
With a 9% rise to $31 billion in 2006 sales, Ingram Micro moved up from No. 72 last year.
Santa Ana-based title insurer First American Corp. was next at No. 289, down from No. 284 last year.
First American grew sales 5% to $8.5 billion last year but couldn’t keep pace with others on the list.
Newport Beach-based life insurer Pacific Life Insurance Co. ranked No. 437, up from No. 441 a year ago. Pacific Life saw a 12% gain to $5.2 billion in 2006 revenue.
Fortune includes Pacific Life, OC’s largest private company, because the insurer reports financial results for its policyholders, who own the company.
Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. rejoined the Fortune 500 at No. 498, up from No. 525 last year in the broader Fortune 1000 listing.
Disk drive maker Western Digital, which saw a 19% gain to $4.3 billion in 2006 sales, traded places in the Fortune 500 with Irvine’s Standard Pacific Corp., which last year debuted in the group at No. 493.
With the housing slump, Standard Pacific went back to the Fortune 1000 at No. 533 this year.
Including Standard Pacific, the county has six companies in the second group.
They are: No. 560 Irvine-based Broadcom Corp.; No. 644 Irvine’s Allergan Inc.; No. 735 Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc.; and No. 777 Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc.
Among those in the second group, chipmaker Broadcom has the best chance to break into the Fortune 500. Last year, it saw sales grow 37% to $3.7 billion.
To do so, the company will need to shake free from an industrywide slump that’s crimped growth. In the first quarter, Broadcom’s sales were flat at about $900 million.
