Gilead Sciences Tops the 13th Annual BusinessWeek 50 Ranking

Coach falls from No. 1 to No. 16

NEW YORK, March 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences tops the 2009 BusinessWeek 50 ranking of the best performing U.S. companies. Rounding out the top five are CF Industries Holdings, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Windstream, and Colgate-Palmolive.

This year's No. 1, Gilead Sciences, scored a huge success earlier this decade when it sensed an opening for HIV drugs that were simpler and cheaper than standard treatments, which required patients to pop dozens of different pills throughout the day. Gilead's researchers responded with a new manufacturing process allowing them to produce compounds of several drugs to be released into the bloodstream at different times. The result was a daily-dose pill that replaced the old drug cocktails for a fraction of the cost. Now the company is going after another big market: patient-friendly treatments for hepatitis C, a chronic liver disease that affects 170 million people worldwide.

Given the carnage on Wall Street and in the economy, you might expect considerable turnover in the BusinessWeek 50. While some notable companies dropped off this year -- for instance, UnitedHealth Group, No. 14 in 2008 -- the 2009 list includes a surprising number of return performers. Among the Class of 2009, 33 companies were repeats from last year's ranking, the largest number in the history of the BW 50.

All these companies know there's no guarantee of success. Look through this year's rankings, and you'll see a number of current high achievers at risk of seeing their franchises disrupted by upstart rivals. For Starbucks (No. 32), the threat is coming from McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts, which are undercutting the coffee giant on price. For Microsoft (No. 8), the spread of cheap -- or even free -- Internet applications offered by Google (No. 35) is threatening its hegemony over the desktop computer. And Best Buy (No. 9) is seeing its CD and video franchise threatened by the digital downloading services run by the likes of Amazon and Apple. But these challenged companies have a history of rising to the occasion and may prove that they can be innovative -- and disruptive -- players once again.

BusinessWeek's BW 50 ranking is featured in the April 6, 2009 issue, on newsstands March 27th. Expanded content, including full methodology and an interactive scoreboard, is available on BusinessWeek.com at www.businessweek.com/bw50.

                                    BusinessWeek 50
                                     Class of 2009

                          Rank             Company
                            1        Gilead Sciences
                            2        CF Industries Holdings
                            3        Diamond Offshore
                            4        Windstream
                            5        Colgate-Palmolive
                            6        C.H. Robinson Worldwide
                            7        Exelon
                            8        Microsoft
                            9        Best Buy
                           10        MasterCard
                           11        Precision Castparts
                           12        Varian Medical Systems
                           13        Avon Products
                           14        Schlumberger
                           15        Apple
                           16        Coach
                           17        IntercontinentalExchange
                           18        Questar
                           19        Fastenal
                           20        Nucor
                           21        Verizon
                           22        Express Scripts
                           23        Amazon.com
                           24        MEMC Electronic Materials
                           25        CB Richard Ellis
                           26        Coca-Cola
                           27        Apollo Group
                           28        Expeditors International of Washington
                           29        Noble
                           30        Nasdaq OMX Group
                           31        Cognizant Technology Solutions
                           32        Starbucks
                           33        Waters
                           34        EQT
                           35        Google
                           36        CME Group
                           37        Manitowoc
                           38        AT&T
                           39        Allegheny Technologies
                           40        PepsiCo
                           41        Intuitive Surgical
                           42        Nike
                           43        Occidental Petroleum
                           44        PNC Financial Services
                           45        Autodesk
                           46        Robert Half International
                           47        TJX
                           48        AES
                           49        Northern Trust
                           50        Abercrombie & Fitch

SOURCE BusinessWeek