The ranks of large publicly traded companies in Orange County is increasing as is their market capitalizations, but the rate of growth seen at those businesses is slowing.
Twenty-four companies made this year’s Business Journal list of the Fastest-Growing Public Companies, which includes OC-based firms reporting revenue growth of more than 15% over the two-year period ended June 30.
That figure, which includes about four months of results during the onset of the pandemic, is down from 34 companies on last year’s list.
While entries on this week’s list saw revenue climb 28% from the period ended June 30, 2018, it was only to a combined $15.7 billion in annual sales. Last year’s list featured 33% growth to $27 billion. In 2018, the growth was 36% to $22.5 billion.
Still, the fast-growing companies are a diverse lot, ranging from banks to real estate developers to software companies.
The health sector led with seven companies, followed by five tech firms and four banks.
They didn’t generate as much profit as last year, $1.2 billion, compared with $1.8 billion a year ago.
The rich certainly got richer as the market cap of these 24 companies soared to $123 billion, up from a combined $105.3 billion for 34 companies a year ago.
About two-thirds of that is due to heart valve device maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW), which sports a $53 billion market cap, the highest in Orange County, and burrito restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), with a $36 billion value, the second highest in the county (See separate story, page 22).
The 24 companies continued the trend of growing their employee count more outside the area. Their OC employment climbed 10% to 11,640 while their firmwide count increased 15.4% to 134, 053.
Montrose Environmental Group Inc. of Irvine made its debut this year, posting an 186% jump in sales over two years to $260.3 million in sales for the period ended June 30.
Wait Till Next Year
Some new publicly traded companies in Orange County like Axonics Modulation Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AXNX) and Inari Medical Inc. (Nasdaq: NARI) have done well on Wall Street but didn’t make the list because they don’t have significant sales for the year ended June 30, 2018.
Other local companies have gone public through reverse mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies (also known as SPACs), such as Allied Esports Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: AESE) and Advantage Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: ADV). They didn’t break out their revenue figures for the 2018 period in regulatory filings and were not included in the list.
Some of these newly-public companies with hot-selling products are sure to make next year’s list.
Unlike prior years where smaller companies grew at a faster pace, the fastest growers this year were midsize companies, those with sales from $100 million to $500 million, where growth was 78%.
Small companies, those under $100 million, saw growth of 39% while big companies, those above $500 million, saw a 22% growth.
Irvine is far and away the favorite headquarters for the firms totaling 15 companies, followed by Newport Beach and Anaheim with two each.
Twelve companies preferred a listing on Nasdaq while 9 opted for the New York Stock Exchange. Another three chose over-the-counter exchanges, only one of which reported revenue topping $100 million.
AI Wannabe
• The fastest grower, clicking in at 220% growth to $50.4 million, was Costa Mesa-based Veritone Inc. (Nasdaq: VERI).
The Costa Mesa-based company, which has a business buying advertising space on the Internet, is also developing an artificial intelligence system to track media ads, among other business lines. The stock topped $75 in 2017 only to drop below $2 last year. It’s currently hovering around $12 with a $342 million market cap.
• The hottest local tech company continued to be Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX), where sales climbed 186% to $464.9 million. It now sports a $7.6 billion market cap.
• The only real estate company on the list was FivePoint Holdings LLC (NYSE: FPH), where sales climbed 211% to $192.4 million.
• An impressive company in an industry hard hit by the pandemic was Boot Barn Holdings (NYSE: BOOT).
The company notched a 15% gain in revenue over the two-year period ended June 30 to $807.6 million. That’s even higher than the $800.6 million it reported a year ago.
• Pro-Dex Inc. (Nasdaq: PDEX) in Irvine saw an acceleration of growth, climbing 55% to $34.8 million earning third place on the list of small public companies.
The manufacturer, which has pivoted to the medical device industry in recent years, a year ago inked a deal with one of its major medical device companies to supply its product through a private label.
