Apple 6th in InfoTech100

Apple ranks no. 6 on BusinessWeek's Information Technology 100, the magazine's ranking of the "top tech performers." The ranking scheme starts by looking at financial data from Standard & Poor's Compustat. To qualify, companies had to have revenues of at least $300 million. Companies whose stock price has dropped more than 75 percent, whose sales shrank, or where other developments raised questions about future performance, were eliminated from contention. The remaining group of companies was ranked on four criteria: return on equity, shareholder return and revenue growth. Amazon ranked number 1, AT&T (Apple's partner for the iPhone) is no. 7, and Microsoft is no. 9. In addition to ranking 6th overall, Apple also ranked 7th on the list of best shareholder returns, with its stock gaining 102.8 percent in the 12-month period ending May 31st 2007.

Regarding Apple, BusinessWeek says "Is it any wonder Apple is No. 6? It has nearly quadrupled in size in the past five years, thanks to the iPod and resurgent Mac sales. [...] What's more, the company seems to have honed just the right set of capabilities with which to conquer or create new markets. It has key software assets for this age of convergence, including the MacOS and iTunes digital media software, which has been downloaded 500 million times."

by MacNN Staff