The energy sector hasn’t dominated the Fortune Fastest Growing Companies list in more than 15 years—not since a three-year streak from 2006 to 2008. But this year, energy is back on top, accounting for 28 of the 100 companies on our list.
The sector has seen a sharp rise in recent years. In 2021, there were no energy companies on the list, which ranks companies based on growth in revenue, profits, and stock returns; and in 2022 there were only five. Now, the energy sector’s presence on the list has nearly doubled in comparison to last year, when 15 companies earned spots.
The top-performing company in the energy sector is No. 2 overall on this year’s list. Newcomer Consol Energy, which is headquartered in Canonsburg, Pa., and specializes in exporting coal, had the second-highest three-year annual earnings growth rate among our companies, at 403.7%. Consol Energy is not the only new company making waves: 50 companies are making their first appearance this year, including the list’s top three companies.
The Fastest Growing Companies ranking is determined by companies’ revenue growth, earnings per share growth, and three-year annualized return to shareholders for the period ended June 28, 2024. All of the companies on the list trade on a U.S. stock exchange, report their data in U.S. dollars, and file SEC quarterly reports. (See the full methodology here.) This is the 39th edition of our annual list.
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The 100 companies on this year’s list have a combined market value of $6.7 trillion. On average, the companies brought in $23 billion in revenue and $2.8 billion in profits in their latest twelve-month reporting period ending on or before April 30, 2024, with a $66 billion market value as of Oct. 2, 2024. The retailing sector led all others in average annual earnings growth; financials led in average annual revenue growth; and tech led in average annual total returns. On average, the companies had annual shareholder returns of 29%, beating the S&P 500 index’s 10% annual returns over the same stretch.
TORM and e.l.f. Beauty round out the top 3
List newcomer e.l.f. Beauty, a cosmetics and skincare company, took the No. 3 spot this year. The company had the third-highest three-year annual total shareholder return rate on the list, at 98.1%. What’s more, e.l.f. is only 20 years old—the average company age on the list is 70 years.
While energy companies overall had the largest presence on the list, this year’s top company is in the transportation sector. London-based TORM, which owns and operates tankers for transporting refined oil products and chemicals, was the No. 1 Fastest Growing Company. The 135-year-old company brought in $1.57 billion in revenue for the four quarters ending March 31, 2024. TORM had the fourth-highest three-year annual total shareholder return, at 87%.
TORM was one of just two U.K. companies on the list. The second is Shell, also based in London and also a newcomer to the list, ranked No. 67. The oil giant brought in the most revenue of any company on the list for the four quarters ending March 31, 2024, at $308.9 billion. In all, 16 of this year’s companies, including TORM and Shell, are based outside of the U.S. Cayman Islands-based Consolidated Water debuted on the list at No. 6 this year; it’s the only non-U.S. company in the top 10.
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For the second year in a row, Texas was home to the most companies on the list. The state boasts 26 companies this year, 12 of which are based in Houston—among them, energy company Phillips 66. No. 44 on the list and a Fastest Growing Company newcomer, Phillips 66 brought in $151 billion in revenue during the twelve months ending in March 31, 2024. California took second in terms of company headquarters, home to eight companies this year.
Arista Networks, the Santa Clara-based computer networking solutions provider, is the highest- ranking Fastest Growing Company led by a female CEO, at No. 22. The 20-year-old Arista is one of only four companies on this year’s list to be led by a woman.
Most of the companies on this list are relatively small, which helps explain why they’re able to generate massive percentage growth in revenue; the median company had $2.4 billion in annual revenue. But 26 Fortune 1000 companies are also Fastest Growing Companies, including chip developer Nvidia, which jumped up from No. 50 last year to No. 8 on this year’s ranking and has the fifth-largest total returns on the list.
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Kirkland, Wash.-based Monolithic Power Systems holds the longest streak on the list, making its seventh consecutive appearance in 2024. In all, 25 companies returned from last year, a drop from last year’s 32 returning companies. Notably, last year’s No. 1, Builders Firstsource, and No. 3, Encore Wire, did not return to the list this year. Tesla, which ranked second in 2023, dropped to No. 42. Steel Dynamics and CF Industrial Holdings tied for the largest list drops from the previous year, both falling 75 places. Steel Dynamics dropped from No. 9 to No. 84, and CF Industrial fell from No. 22 to No. 97. Steel-pipe supplier Tenaris saw the biggest increase in its ranking, jumping up to fifteenth this year from its place at No. 78 in 2023.
A total of 25 companies made it back onto the list after at least a year off, including Richmond, Va.-based Performance Food Group, a broadline food distributor, which returned to Fastest Growing Companies after more than two decades. In 2003, it ranked No. 92; this year it secured the No. 47 spot.
