It’s incredibly difficult to predict the future in this rapidly changing world. Theranos and WeWork were the hottest startups in the world before their valuations tumbled. Fortune magazine publishes an annual Future 50 list in collaboration with the management consulting firm BCG. Here we take a look at the top 10 companies with the strongest long-term growth potential, according to the 2019 Future 50 list.
The Future 50 list includes companies that have the capacity to reinvent their business and drive sustained growth in the long run. Fortune and BCG analyzed 1,100 publicly-traded companies with at least 20 billion in valuation or $10 billion in revenue over the last 12 months. They rated companies based on 19 different factors, which focus on the long-term viability of the business instead of short-term gains.
Fortune and BCG’s scoring system is such that 30% of a company’s score is based on its market potential, while the other 70% is based on the company’s ability to deliver against the growth potential. Some of the factors used to predict future growth are the company’s strategic orientation, technology, R&D expenditure, management team, and expenditure.
These are the top 10 countries with the strongest growth potential, according to the 2019 Future 50 list.
10- Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals received a score of 2.6. The drugmaker posted revenue of $3.4 billion and a profit of $2.2 billion in the last 12 months. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes specific drugs for rare disorders such as cystic fibrosis. Analysts expect the company to keep growing at the double-digit growth rate in the coming years.
9- Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com also received the same score of 2.6. It was also named one of the best places to work for in 2019. The cloud-based software company generated $14.7 billion in revenue and $950 million in profits last year. Salesforce is known for promoting transparency. It has been adding new capabilities to its offerings to drive growth. The company has been growing at 20%+ for the last several years.
8- Ctrip.com International
Shanghai-based travel services giant went public in 2003. It offers accommodation reservations, packaged tours, corporate travel management, and transportation ticketing. The Chinese giant has more than 210 million monthly active users. Ctrip has been aggressively expanding its international business, mainly through acquisitions of Trip.com and Skyscanner.
7- Xiaomi
Xiaomi is the only smartphone maker on the list. Founded in 2011, it posted $28 billion in revenue and $1.6 billion of profits in the last 12 months. It has 17,000 employees, mostly in China and India. It has become the largest smartphone vendor in India by market share. The company is also expanding into other product categories such as smart home devices.
6- Atlassian
With a score of 3.2, Atlassian has the 6th strongest long-term growth potential. The Australian enterprise software company builds products for content management, software developers, and project managers. Atlassian rewrote its code to better support scalability. Its low-cost marketing strategies have helped drive rapid growth in recent years, but it will face stiff competition in the coming years, says Fortune.
5- Spotify
The music streaming service posted revenue of $6.8 billion with profits of $315 million in the past 12 months. Spotify continues to grow rapidly, but it faces severe threats from Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music. The Swedish streaming giant has been expanding internationally and investing heavily in podcasts. It has acquired Gimlet Media for $230 million, Parcast for $56 million, and Anchor for a little over $100 million.
4- Contemporary Amperex Technology
Founded in 2011, the Chinese battery maker generated $6 billion in revenue in the past 12 months. CATL is the world’s largest supplier of batteries for electric vehicles. It supplies lithium-ion batteries and energy storage systems to Honda, BMW, Volkswagen, and many other companies. It aims to achieve the global lithium-ion battery production capacity of 50GWh by 2020.
3- ServiceNow
Fortune magazine and experts at BCG are highly optimistic about the long-term growth potential of ServiceNow. The Santa Clara-based cloud computing company offers IT services management, IT business management, and IT operations management. ServiceNow has been growing rapidly, thanks to its massive R&D investments and aggressive sales capabilities.
2- Square
Founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey about a decade ago, Square is a financial services and mobile payments company. The company incurred a loss of $53 million in the last 12 months, though its revenues jumped to $3.9 billion. Square is working to bring larger corporations to its platform. It has also started facilitating Bitcoin transactions.
1- Workday
Workday is not only one of the best company to work for, but also the company with the strongest long-term growth potential. Founded in 2005, Workday is a cloud-based financial management and human capital management software vendor. It has topped the Future 50 list for two consecutive years. It posted a revenue of $3.2 billion in the past 12 months, though it incurred a loss of $495 million in the same period.
