2-YEAR GROWTH: Top 30 fast-growing public companies in OC see 47% revenue boost

Health Sector Sees Largest 2-Year Gains

The ranks of fast-growing publicly traded companies in Orange County are growing much faster than a year ago.

The 30 entries on this week’s list of Fastest-Growing Public Companies saw revenue climb 47% for the twoyear period ended June 30 to a total of $36.9 billion.

Last year’s listing, coming amid the onset of the pandemic, reported 28% growth to a combined $15.7 billion in annual sales.

The Business Journal’s annual list includes OC-based firms reporting revenue growth of more than 15% over the two-year period ended June 30.

The fast-growing companies are a diverse lot, ranging from medical device makers to banks to real estate developers to software companies.

The health sector is clearly the fastest-growing industry in Orange County, with 12 firms making the list, followed by six each in technology and banks and two in real estate.

The lists are broken into three categories: Under $100 million, where sales grew a combined 90%; $100 million to $500 million, which grew the fastest at 131%; and above $500 million, where sales increased 44%.

Health Tops

The fastest growers in each category are in the health sector.

Topping the overall list as well as the medium category is Axonics Inc. (Nasdaq: AXNX), which grew to $150.3 million for the 12 months period ended June 30, a 4,509% jump from the same period two years ago.

Growth would have been faster at the Irvinebased maker of implants to treat overactive bladders had COVID-19 not struck, Chief Executive Raymond Cohen told the Business Journal.

The coronavirus “has certainly been a challenge,” Cohen said. “In certain regions, hospitals have restricted elective procedures” (see separate article, page 26).

Another health industry company, Evolus Inc. (Nasdaq: EOLS) ranks the highest on the small companies list with 3,213% growth to $76.5 million.

In February, Evolus, a maker of aesthetics to treat wrinkles, resolved its patent disputes with larger rival Allergan Aesthetics, the Irvinebased maker of Botox.

The fastest grower on the large company list is Brea-based dental firm Envista Holdings Corp. (NYSE: NVST), which climbed 315% to $2.8 billion.

Originally a unit of Danaher Corp., Envista was spun off in 2019 and now provides dental equipment services to about 1 million dentists in 150 countries.

“We are off to a great start in 2021. A robust recovery in the dental market combined with strong execution and our continuous improvement culture drove broad-based strength across our portfolio,” Chief Executive Amir Aghdaei said earlier this year when reporting first-quarter results.

Factoids

The companies together generated $5.2 billion in net income, about a fivefold increase from a year ago.

The rich certainly got richer as the market cap of these 24 companies soared to $221.5 billion, up from $123 billion for 24 companies a year ago.

About two-thirds of that is due to the three most valuable companies by market cap in Orange County: heart valve device maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW), which sports a $69.7 billion market cap, burrito restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), with a $52.1 billion value, and Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS), which has a $26.6 billion cap.

All three of these biggest companies by market cap also reported two-year growth topping at least 24%.

The 30 companies continued the trend of growing their employee count more outside the area. Their OC employment climbed 2.5% to 15,793 while their firmwide count increased 9% to 207,585.

Irvine is far and away the favorite headquarters for the firms totaling 15 companies, followed by Newport Beach and Santa Ana with three each.

Highlights

■ Tech firm Netlist Inc. (OTC: NLST) saw sales climb 276% to $101 million. In the past year, shares of the Irvine-based maker of memory products have jumped from 70 cents to $10 in July before falling to $6.18 at press time; it sports a $1.4 billion market cap.

■ Boot Barn Holdings (NYSE: BOOT) continues to be a standout in the retail sector. The Irvine company notched a 31% gain in revenue over the two-year period to reach $1.1 billion for the trailing 12 months ended June 30.

■ Medical device maker ProDex Inc. (Nasdaq: PDEX) in Irvine climbed 40% to $38 million, earning sixth place on the list of small public companies.

■ Qualstar Corp. (OTC: QBAK) joins the list after last year moving from Camarillo to Irvine.

Founded in 1984, the electronics manufacturer specializing in data storage and power supplies reported sales increased 26% over a two year span to $13.4 million, good for No. 8 on the small companies list. However, the company sports only a $5 million market cap.

■ Montrose Environmental Group Inc. (NYSE: MEG), which runs its business out of Irvine, posted a 125% jump to $463.5 million. A year ago, it had a 112% jump in sales over two years.