How good was it?
Companies on the Business Journal’s annual ranking of the area’s largest public companies saw their market caps increase 75% to a combined $215.7 billion for the 12 months ended March 31, the cutoff point for this week’s list.
Including subsequent stock gains and the market caps of 10 companies that went public in the past year, the OC market caps total reached $257 billion as of late last week, an all-time high for the region.
The quarter-trillion combined value is roughly that of Santa Clara-based Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), the country’s 20th largest public company as of last week.
The performance of the OC companies easily topped the 54% gains of the S&P 500 during the same period, which benchmarks companies from around the nadir of the pandemic-driven sell-off of 2020, when the S&P 500 lost nearly 30% of its value in less than a month.
By August 2020, the S&P 500 had fully rebounded from the March sell-off.
$1B Club Doubles
The rise was widespread, as 46 local companies saw their market caps increase more than 25% from a year ago. Thirty-three companies on the list saw their market cap top the $1 billion mark, twice the number of a year ago.
The increases by the 20 largest locally based firms accounted $83.5 billion of the overall year-over-year increase of $92 billion.
Only three of the 60 companies saw their market caps drop from a year ago. The most notable decline was 12% at data software provider Alteryx Inc. (NYSE: AYX), which still is the most valuable publicly traded software company based in OC with a $5.5 billion market cap.
For our annual list, we included all OC-based companies with a market cap topping $100 million and trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq or over-the-counter exchanges. We excluded several penny stocks that reported under $100 million in annual revenue or didn’t file recent reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sales Up
Most companies on the list were able to navigate the coronavirus, as evidenced by maintaining revenue at $53.7 billion, similar to a year ago. The companies reported a 1% increase in 2020 sales, compared to a 7.7% jump in 2019.
They reported net income rose about 18% to $4.9 billion. Their assets climbed 15% to $131 billion.
They grew their OC employment 3% to 28,205 while their companywide employment climbed 1.8% to 312,915.
Irvine remains the capital of OC’s publicly traded companies with 32 based in the city, up from 25 a year ago. It was followed by Newport Beach with six, Santa Ana with five and San Clemente with four.
Notables
• For the third straight year, the biggest increase by dollar amount was No. 2 Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), which saw its cap rise $21.9 billion, or 120%, to $40.1 billion. When the Mexican-themed restaurant chain in 2018 moved its headquarters from Denver to Newport Beach, its market cap was around $7 billion.
• No. 1 Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) saw its market cap rise by $13 billion, or 33%, to $52 billion. A decade ago, the market cap of Edwards, which makes heart valves, was $3.4 billion (see page 18).
Edwards, last Friday valued at nearly $61 billion, ranks as the No. 145th most valuable public company in the U.S. Chipotle is No. 180.
• The market cap of No. 3 Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS), which officially moved its headquarters from Massachusetts to Irvine last year, jumped $15.7 billion, or 108%, to $30.3 billion. Skyworks’ stock often mirrors that of its chief customer, Apple Inc., which also doubled during the same period (see separate story, page 19).
• No. 4 Masimo Corp. (Nasdaq: MASI) of Irvine climbed 31% to $12.7 billion on the strength of demand for its wireless oxygen monitors during the pandemic.
Newcomers
Six new companies that went public in the past two years made the top 20: No. 5 Envista Holdings Corp. (NYSE: NVST), which makes dental products; No. 7 loanDepot (NYSE: LDI), which originates mortgages; No. 13 Vizio Inc., (NYSE: VZIO), which makes televisions; No. 15 Alignment Healthcare Inc. (Nasdaq: ALHC), which provides Medicare insurance; No. 18 Advantage Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: ADV), a sales and marketing agency; and No. 20 Viant Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: DSP), an advertising software company.
• Loandepot saw firsthand the effect of low interest rates as consumers rushed to refinance their homes. It had the biggest increases both in revenue, which climbed 222% to $4.3 billion, and net income, up 59-fold to $2 billion.
• The biggest share increase was 687% to $437 million of ClearPoint Neuro Inc., (Nasdaq: CLPT) which makes medical devices.
• Another notable jump was 651% of Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE), which builds and supplies renewable natural gas stations. Its shares started climbing after Joe Biden was declared president (see story, page 1).
• Anaheim, the largest city in OC by population of about 350,000, only has two publicly traded companies on this list: No. 41 Willdan Group Inc. (Nasdaq: WLDN), an engineering and consulting firm; and No. 55 Bridgford Foods Corp. (Nasdaq: BRID).
• OC’s banking sector has recovered from a year ago when there were fears of massive defaults on loans.
Pacific Premier Bancorp (Nasdaq: PPBI), the largest OC-based bank, saw its market cap jump 253% to $4 billion. Banc of California Inc. (NYSE: BANC) more than doubled to $916 million.
First Foundation Inc. (Nasdaq: FFWM) more than doubled to $1.1 billion; it won’t appear on next year’s list because it’s moving its corporate headquarters to the Dallas area while keeping its banking and wealth management teams in Irvine.
Pacific Mercantile Bancorp, (Nasdaq: PMBC) which rose 85% to $205 million, also won’t be on next year’s list as it’s being acquired by Banc of California.
Saying Goodbye
• This will be the final appearance for CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX), which is being acquired after a lengthy takeover battle that helped boost its market cap 139% to $5.8 billion.
• Kushco Holdings Inc., previously the largest cannabis-related publicly traded company in Orange County, isn’t on the list because it’s being bought by a Florida-based company where it’s relocating.
Four other local companies were recently acquired and taken private, and no longer appear: Urovant Sciences Ltd., Foundation Building Materials Inc., Endologix LLC and Collectors Universe Inc. (see stories, page 1 and 11).
• Also no longer appearing are companies that have moved their headquarters out of California: Healthpeak Properties Inc. (NYSE: PEAK), NextGen Healthcare Inc. (Nasdaq: NXGN), Veritone Inc. (Nasdaq: VERI), Emerald Holding Inc. (NYSE: EEX), Tri Pointe Homes (NYSE: TPH), Cryoport Inc. (Nasdaq: CYRX), and Acacia Research Corp. (Nasdaq: ACTG).
