Fast 500 | Highlights and Trends

This analysis provides a recap of the 2006 Technology Fast 500. Use the anchor links below to visit a specific part of the analysis.

Top 5 Companies on Deloitte’s 2006 Technology Fast 500
Interesting Stats About the Top 10 Companies
Five Repeat Companies in 2006 Top 10
Repeat Companies
Growth Percentages
Geography of the Fast 500
Region With the Greatest Average Growth Rates
Average Percent Growth by Region
Regional Breakdown
Fast 500 Companies in Top Technology Centers
Industry Breakdown (in order of greatest percentage)
Average Percent Growth by Industry
Repeat Companies From 2005 Fast 500’s Top 10
Past Number 1 Companies: Where Are They Now?
Largest Companies on the Fast 500 (in order of revenue)
Public or Privately Held
Rising Stars

Top 5 Companies on Deloitte’s 2006 Technology Fast 50

Occam Networks Inc. (OTCBB:OCCM) was named the fastest growing company in North America, topping the 2006 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the fastest growing companies in North America based on a percentage revenue growth over five years (fiscal year revenues 2001–2005) by Deloitte & Touche USA, LLP. Occam Networks had a revenue growth rate over five years of 48,948 percent, moving from revenues of $80,000 in 2001 to $39,238,000 in 2005. Based in Santa Barbara, Calif., Occam Networks (www.occamnetworks.com) is a publicly held provider of telecom equipment based on IP and Ethernet. This is its first appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.
Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT), a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based publicly held company, came in second on the 2006 Fast 500 list. Westport (www.westport.com), a supplier of alternative fuel power technologies, reported revenues of $34,436,000 in 2005, a leap of 42,945 percent from 2001 revenues of $80,000. This is its third appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.
Litle & Co., a Lowell, Mass.-based privately held company, came in third on the 2006 Fast 500 list. Litle & Co. (www.litle.com), which provides payment processing and management services to direct commerce merchants, reported revenues of $34,796,000 in 2005, a leap of 33,683 percent from 2001 revenues of $103,000. This is its first appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.
Airborne Entertainment Inc., a Montreal-based privately held communications/networking company, came in fourth on the 2006 Fast 500 list. Airborne Entertainment (www.airborne-e.com), which develops and packages mobile content, reported revenues of $35,768,000 in 2005, a leap of 33,328 percent from 2001 revenues of $107,000. This is its first appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.
NewMarket Technology Inc. (OTCBB:NMKT), a Dallas-based publicly held software company, came in fifth on the 2006 Fast 500 list. NewMarket Technology (www.newmarkettechnology.com), which works with new, innovative technologies and takes them to market, reported revenues of $50,138,000 in 2005, a leap of 31,633 percent from 2001 revenues of $158,000. This is its third appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.

Interesting Stats About the Top 10 Companies

Five of the Top 10 are based in Canada.
Number 1 Occam Networks Inc. (based in Santa Barbara, Calif.) is the only Top 10 company based in the West.
Six of the Top 10 are publicly traded (4 are privately held).
Three of the Top 10 are software companies.
Four of the Top 10 are communications/networking companies.
Two of the Top 10 are biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies.
Five of the Top 10 companies are repeat companies.

Five Repeat Companies in 2006 Top 10

Five of this year’s Top 10 companies have appeared on previous Fast 500 Rankings:

Number 2 Westport Innovations Inc. was Number 30 in 2005 and Number 31 in 2004.
Number 5 NewMarket Technology Inc. was Number 13 in 2005 and Number 312 in 2004.
Number 6 Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. was Number 65 in 2005, Number 482 in 2004, and Number 321 in 2003.
Number 8 I-trax Inc. was Number 6 in 2005 and Number 285 in 2003.
Number 9 Imaging Dynamics Company Ltd. was Number 104 in 2005.

Repeat Companies

Note: There were no twelve-, eleven-, ten- or nine-time repeat companies.

Eight-Time Repeat Company

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company based in Foster City, Calif., ranked Number 206 this year.

Seven-Time Repeat Companies

Number 249-ranked Open Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN), a software company based in Glastonbury, Conn.
Number 342-ranked Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM), a communications/networking company based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Number 347-ranked Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG), a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company based in Summit, N.J.
Number 352-ranked Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ: CEPH), a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company based in West Chester, Penn.
Number 418-ranked Unica Corporation (NASDAQ: UNCA), a software company based in Waltham, Mass.

There were also 12 companies on the list six times; 15 five-time companies; 35 four-time companies, 82 three-time companies; and 151 two-time companies. This year, 199 companies appeared on the Fast 500 listing for the first time.

Growth Percentages

The 2006 top five companies’ growth rate averaged 38,107 percent over five years, down from 45,531 percent in 2005, 183,337 percent in 2004, 177,851 percent for 2003, and 196,762 percent for 2002. The 2001 top five companies’ average was 93,496 percent, and the top five companies’ growth rate averaged 59,367 percent in 2000.
Overall average growth for all 500 companies was 2,145 percent, down from 2,408 in 2005 and 4,109 percent in 2004.
Fast 500 Average Growth Percentages by Program Year

2006 — 2,147 percent
2005 — 2,408 percent
2004 — 4,109 percent
2003 — 5,493 percent
2002 — 6,772 percent
2001 — 6,184 percent
2000 — 3,956 percent
1999 — 4,998 percent
1998 — 2,958 percent
1997 — 2,500 percent
1996 — 2,712 percent
1995 — 2,834 percent

Revenue growth for the 2006 Fast 500 companies ranged from 209 percent to 48,948 percent, compared with 240 percent to 73,752 percent for 2005 companies, 329 percent to 437,115 percent for 2004 companies, 469 percent to 296,080 percent for 2003 companies, 614 percent to 293,493 percent for 2002 companies, 824 percent to 115,874 percent for 2001 companies, and 593 percent to 71,257 percent for 2000 companies.

Geography of the Fast 500

The Western United States is home to 28 percent (139 companies) for 2006, the same as 28 percent (139 companies) in 2005, down from 34 percent (167 companies) in 2004 and 32 percent (162 companies) in 2003, and down from 36 percent (180 companies) in 2002. This year, just one of the Top 10 companies is based in the West.
California retains its title as home to more Fast 500 technology companies than any other state with 23 percent (116 companies) based there, up from 21 percent (105 companies) in 2005, down from 26 percent (130 companies) in 2004, 25 percent (126 companies) in 2003, and 30 percent (149 companies) in 2002. Northern California is home to 72 companies, while Southern California has 44 companies.
U.S. states and Canadian Provinces with a large number of companies (from largest to smallest) include:
- California with 116 companies, up from 105 companies in 2005.
- Canada with 56 companies, up slightly from 53 companies in 2005.
- Texas with 46 companies, up from 41 companies in 2005.
- Massachusetts with 39 companies, down slightly from 41 companies in 2005.
- New Jersey with 37 companies, up from 29 companies in 2005.
- Virginia with 34 companies, down from 39 companies in 2005.
- New York and Maryland with 23 companies each. New York had 21 companies in 2005. Maryland had 17 companies in 2005.
Canada boasts 11 percent (56 companies) of this year’s companies, up slightly from 10 percent (53 companies) in 2005, the same as 2004’s 11 percent (55 companies), down from 14 percent (68 companies) in 2003, but up slightly from 10 percent in 2002. The highest ranked Canadian Fast 500 company for 2005 is Number 2-ranked Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT), a scientific and technical engineering company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Westport reported revenues of $34,436,000 in 2005, a leap of 42,945 percent from 2001 revenues of $80,000. This is its third appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.

Region With the Greatest Average Growth Rates

Canada is the high-tech leader with the largest average growth rate for its companies. Fast 500 companies in Canada had an average percentage growth of 3,876 percent, compared to 2,195 percent in 2005.

Average Percent Growth by Region

Canadian Fast 500 companies had the highest average revenue growth of all the regions with 3,876 percent, up from 2,195 percent in 2005 and up from 1,597 percent in 2004. Their revenues were calculated in Canadian dollars.
Southwestern United States Fast 500 companies had average revenue growth of 2,335 percent, down from 2,615 percent in 2005 and up from 1,727 percent in 2004.
Western United States Fast 500 companies had average revenue growth of 2,126 percent, down from 3,137 percent in 2005 and down from 8,790 percent in 2004.
Northeastern United States Fast 500 companies had average revenue growth of 1,825 percent, down from 1,948 percent in 2005 and down from 1,864 percent in 2004.
Midwestern United States Fast 500 companies had average revenue growth of 1,818 percent, down from 2,165 percent in 2005 and up from 1,408 percent in 2004.
Southeastern United States Fast 500 companies grew average revenues by 1,606 percent, down from 2,081 percent in 2005 and down from 1,886 percent in 2004.

Regional Breakdown

Western United States — 28 percent (139 companies), the same as 28 percent (139 companies) in 2005 and down from 34 percent (168 companies) in 2004.
Northeastern United States — 28 percent (138 companies), up from 25 percent (123 companies) in 2005 and up from 22 percent (110 companies) in 2004.
Southeastern United States — 18 percent (90 companies), down from 20 percent (100 companies) in 2005 and up from 16 percent (80 companies) in 2004.
Canada — 11 percent (56 companies), up from 10 percent (53 companies) in 2005 and the same as 11 percent (54 companies) in 2004.
Southwestern United States — 9 percent (46 companies), the same as 9 percent (44 companies) in 2005 and up from 7 percent (37 companies) in 2004.
Midwestern United States — 6 percent (31 companies), down from 8 percent (41 companies) in 2005 and down from 10 percent (51 companies) in 2004.

Fast 500 Companies in Top Technology Centers

California — 23 percent (116 companies, with 72 in Northern California and 44 in Southern California)
New York Tri-State (New Jersey, New York and Connecticut combined) — 14 percent (72 companies)
Greater Washington DC Area (Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC combined) — 12 percent (59 companies)
Canada — 11 percent (56 companies)
Massachusetts — 8 percent (39 companies)
Washington and Oregon combined — 3 percent (16 companies)
Other states — 29 percent (144 companies)

Industry Breakdown (in order of greatest percentage):

Software — 36 percent (179 companies), fairly consistent with 37 percent (186 companies) in 2005 and 38 percent (192 companies) in 2004.
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical — 15 percent (76 companies), fairly consistent with 16 percent (82 companies) in 2005. In previous years, this category was part of the life sciences category.
Communications and networking — 13 percent (65 companies), fairly consistent with 14 percent (70 companies) in 2005 and 14 percent (72 companies) in 2004.
Internet — 12 percent (60 companies), fairly consistent with 11 percent (57 companies) in 2005 and down from 14 percent (70 companies) in 2004.
Medical equipment — 6 percent (31 companies), down from 8 percent (39 companies) in 2005. In previous years, this category was part of the life sciences category.
Computers and peripherals — 6 percent (29 companies), up from 4 percent (17 companies) in 2005 and the same as 6 percent (27 companies) in 2004.
Scientific/technical instrumentation — 5 percent (27 companies), fairly consistent with 6 percent (29 companies) in 2005. In previous years, this category was part of the semiconductor/equipment category.
Semiconductor — 5 percent (23 companies), fairly consistent with 4 percent (20 companies) in 2005. In previous years, this category was part of the semiconductor/equipment category.
Media and entertainment — 2 percent (10 companies). This is the first year this category has been included on the Fast 500 listing.

Average Percent Growth by Industry

Communications/Networking — 3,778 percent, up from 2,242 in 2005
Scientific/Technical instrumentation — 3,156 percent, up from 1,173 percent in 2005
Semiconductors — 2,313 percent, down from 4,302 percent in 2005
Internet — 2,299 percent, down from 3,983 percent in 2005
Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical — 1,897 percent, up from 1,420 percent in 2005
Software — 1,822 percent, down from 2,400 percent in 2005
Medical equipment — 1,553 percent, down from 3,129 percent in 2005
Computers/Peripherals — 883 percent, up from 877 percent in 2005
Media/Entertainment — 675 percent (this is the first time for this category)

Repeat Companies From 2005 Fast 500’s Top 10

Seven of last year’s Top 10 companies made the 2006 Fast 500 Ranking:

NuVasive Inc., Number 1 in 2005, ranked Number 96 in 2006.
CaseStack Inc., Number 4 in 2005, ranked Number 89 in 2006.
Rutter Inc., Number 5 in 2005, ranked Number 35 in 2006.
I-trax Inc., Number 6 in 2005, ranked Number 8 in 2006.
SeamlessWeb Professional Solutions Inc., Number 7 in 2005, ranked Number 111 in 2006.
Webloyalty.com, Number 8 in 2005, ranked Number 12 in 2006.
GAIN Capital Group, Number 9 in 2005, ranked Number 116 in 2006.

Past Number 1 Companies: Where Are They Now?

In the Fast 500’s 12-year history, two previous Number 1 companies rank on the 2006 list: 2005’s Nuvasive Inc. and 2004’s Google, ranked Number 96 and Number 41, respectively. Being acquired has proven to be a popular path for former Number 1 companies on the list with seven of the 11 taking that route.

Here’s a look at where the past Number 1 Fast 500 companies are today:

2005: NuVasive, Inc., La Jolla, Calif.: Independent.
2004: Google, Mountain View, Calif.: Independent.
2003: TheraSense Inc., Alameda, Calif.: Acquired by Abbott Diabetes Care in 2003.
2002: ITXC Corp., Princeton, N.J.: Acquired by Teleglobe Inc. in 2004, which was subsequently acquired by VSNL in 2005.
2001: eBay Inc., San Jose, Calif.: Independent.
2000: Primus Telecommunications Group, Inc., McLean, Va.: Independent.
1999: Siebel Systems Inc., San Mateo, Calif.: Acquired by Oracle in 2006.
1998: Advanced Fibre Communications Inc., Petaluma, Calif.: Acquired by Tellabs Inc. in 2004.
1997: Integrated Process Equipment Corp., San Jose, Calif.: Acquired by SpeedFam in 1999, creating SpeedFam-IPEC, which was later acquired by Novellus Systems in 2002.
1996: AmeriData Technologies, Stamford, Conn.: Acquired by GE Capital Information Technology Solutions in 1996, which later merged with CompuCom Systems in 2005.
1995: Ascend Communications, Alameda, Calif.: Acquired by Lucent Technologies in 1999, which is merging with Alcatel.

Largest Companies on the Fast 500 (in order of revenue):

There are 13 companies, all publicly held, whose 2005 revenues exceed $1 billion. These companies, in order of revenue, are:

Number 422 Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA, CMCSK), a media/entertainment company based in Philadelphia, with 2005 revenues of $22.3 billion. This is its first appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.
Number 498 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., with 2005 revenues of $12.4 billion. It ranked Number 158 in 1995.
Number 400 L-3 Communications Holdings (NYSE:LLL), a communications/networking company based in New York, with 2005 revenues of $9.4 billion. It was ranked Number 468 in 2005.
Number 262 Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ:LINTA, LCAPA), a media/entertainment company based in Englewood, Colo., with 2005 revenues of $7.9 billion. This is its first appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.
Number 478 Genentech Inc. (NYSE:DNA), a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company from South San Francisco, Calif., with 2005 revenues of $6.6 billion. This is its first appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.
Number 41 Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), an Internet company from Mountain View, Calif., with 2005 revenues of $6.1 billion. It was ranked Number 14 in 2005 and Number 1 in 2004.
Number 241 Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), an Internet company from Sunnyvale, Calif., with 2005 revenues of $5.2 billion. It was ranked Number 353 in 2002, Number 99 in 2001, and Number 6 in 2000.
Number 350 UTStarcom Inc. (NASDAQ:UTSI), a communications/networking company from Alameda, Calif., with 2005 revenues of $2.9 billion. It was ranked Number 250 in 2005; Number 229 in 2004; Number 324 in 2003; Number 475 in 2002; and Number 468 in 2001.
Number 281 SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), a computers/peripherals company from Milpitas, Calif., with 2005 revenues of $2.3 billion. It was ranked Number 487 in 2004.
Number 206 Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company from Foster City, Calif., with 2005 revenues of $2.0 billion. Gilead Sciences has appeared 8 times on the Fast 500 ranking. It was ranked Number 267 in 2005; Number 415 in 2004; Number 236 in 2003; Number 124 in 2000; Number 401 in 1999; Number 354 in 1998; and Number 361 in 1997.
Number 342 Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM; TSX:RIM), a communications/networking company based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, with 2005 revenues of $1.6 billion. It was ranked Number 290 in 2005; Number 361 in 2004; Number 243 in 2003; Number 167 in 2002; Number 298 in 2001; and Number 186 in 2000.
Number 352 Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ:CEPH), a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company based in West Chester, Penn., with 2005 revenues of $1.2 billion. It was ranked Number 199 in 2005; Number 150 in 2004; Number 115 in 2003; and Number 332 in 2002.
Number 471 Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW), a scientific/technical instrumentation company based in Roseland, N.J., with 2005 revenues of $1.1 billion. This is its first appearance on the Fast 500 ranking.

Public or Privately Held

49 percent (245 companies) of the Fast 500 companies are publicly held, down from 53 percent (266 companies) in 2005, 59 percent (296 companies) in 2004, 62 percent (309 companies) in 2003 and 65 percent in 2002.
Four of the Top 10 companies are privately held.

Rising Stars

As an accompaniment to the Fast 500, Deloitte also honors 25 “Rising Star” companies. Eligibility is the same for “Rising Star” companies, except that they must have been in business a minimum of three years but less than five years; they are selected based on percentage revenue growth over three years, from fiscal years 2003–2005.

Deloitte’s Top 3 “Rising Stars” for 2006 are:

Proofpoint Inc., a privately held software company based in Cupertino, Calif., with 13,096 percent growth over three years.
SiliconSystems Inc., a privately held semiconductor company based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., with 7,204 percent growth over three years.
Top Ten Reviews, a privately held Internet company based in Ogden, Utah, with 3,780 percent growth over three years.

Press Information:
Teri Bruno, Teri Bruno Public Relations
714-536-8407


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