These 3 companies topped Fortune’s Fastest-Growing Companies list

Successfully growing a company amid economic uncertainty, geopolitics, and pandemic recovery is no small feat. But there are 100 businesses that have risen to the occasion.

Fortune’s annual Fastest-Growing Companies list, released this week, highlights 100 organizations worth a combined $4 trillion in market capitalization. On average, they delivered an annual 42% return to shareholders over the past three years.

In the 38th year for the annual list, industrials led all sectors with a 108% three-year average annual earnings growth rate. Here’s a look at the top three companies on the list and the CFOs behind their strategies. These companies are in the industrials sector—and they all happen to be based in the state of Texas. 

Builders Firstsource, Inc.

The average age of a company on this year’s ranking is 63 years old. But Builders Firstsource, founded in 1998 and headquartered in Irving, earned the No. 1 spot. The supplier of structural building materials and services to homebuilders brought in $20.9 billion in revenue in the four quarters before April 2023 and has a three-year average annual revenue growth rate of 55%. And the company averaged an average annual total return to shareholders of 87% over those three years.

Peter Jackson has been CFO of Builders FirstSource for the past seven years. Jackson came to Builders FirstSource from Lennox International, Inc., where he served as the Global Refrigeration Segment CFO. Before joining Lennox, Jackson held multiple financial leadership positions at SPX Corporation, General Electric, and Gerber Scientific.

“For the full year 2023, we expect total company net sales to be $16.8 billion to $17.8 billion,” Jackson said on the company’s Q2 2023 earnings call in August. “As we continue to reap the benefits of our transformed business, we are positioned to achieve an upwardly revised long-term normalized gross margin of 29% or higher.” Builders Firstsource, No. 172 on the Fortune 500, will report its Q3 earnings on Nov. 1.

Tesla 

Elon Musk’s EV company Tesla, based in Austin, makes its list debut this year, in the No. 2 spot. Among the factors propelling it to the top: Tesla’s earnings per share grew at a three-year average rate of 285%—the third-highest rate of any company on this list. 

Zachary Kirkhorn joined Tesla in March 2010 as a senior analyst in finance and was promoted to finance chief in 2019. At the time, Tesla was valued at $50 billion, and today, it’s worth about $773 billion. He stepped down as CFO in August and was succeeded by Vaibhav Taneja. Taneja previously served as Tesla’s chief accounting officer since March 2019, and before that he was corporate controller and assistant corporate controller. Prior to joining Tesla, No. 50 on the Fortune 500, Taneja served in various finance and accounting roles at SolarCity Corporation.

Taneja will have some work to do to maintain Tesla’s growth. On Oct. 18, the company posted its lowest quarterly earnings per share in two years at 66 cents, a figure that lagged consensus estimates by 10%, Fortune reported. 

Encore Wire

McKinney-based Encore Wire earned the No. 3 spot on Fortune‘s list. The electrical equipment company saw nearly $3 billion in revenue in the four quarters before April 2023.

Encore Wire CFO Bret J. Eckert joined the company in September 2019 as VP of finance and formally assumed the role of CFO in January 2020. Eckert spent the first 22 years of his career with Ernst & Young LLP, where he was a partner for 10 years.

“Since the first quarter of 2020, we have distributed just under $700 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends,” Eckert said on the company’s Q3 earnings call on Oct. 24. “And we believe that the outlook for our business positions us well to continue to build long-term value for our shareholders.” The company has an “organic growth strategy, one-location business model, historic and recent reinvestments in the business, and our hardworking employees, all driven by a culture of relentless attention to detail,” he said.

You can read the complete list of Fortune’s 100 Fastest-Growing Companies here. 

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Some notable moves this week

Fernando Fernandez was promoted to CFO at Unilever, effective January 1. Fernando, currently president of Unilever’s Beauty & Wellbeing Business Group, will replace Graeme Pitkethly, who announced his decision to retire from the company earlier this year. Before his current role, Fernando was responsible for Unilever’s business in Latin America. This followed him leading Unilever Brazil. Earlier in his career, he led Unilever Philippines and, before that, Unilever’s Global Hair Care category.

Jeffrey L. Tate was named CFO at Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW), effective Nov. 1. Tate will succeed Howard Ungerleider, who has elected to retire from the company to pursue new opportunities following 33 years of service. Ungerleider most recently served as president and CFO. He will officially retire in January 2024. Tate, 54, rejoins Dow following his service as EVP and CFO of Leggett & Platt from September 2019 through June 2023. He first joined Dow in 1992 and brings 27 years of prior Dow service in senior-level finance and operating and general management roles.

Shalene Jacobson was promoted to CFO at Guaranty Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of Guaranty Bank & Trust, N.A. Clifton A. ‘Cappy’ Payne, senior executive vice president and CFO of the company, plans to retire on March 31. Cappy will step down as CFO, effective Dec. 29. Shalene joined the bank in 2016 and currently serves as EVP and CFO of the bank. She will retain that title after her appointment as CFO of Guaranty Bancshares, Inc.

Joanne Bryce, CFO at Disc Medicine, Inc. (Nasdaq: IRON), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is stepping down from her position. Disc has initiated a search for her successor. Bryce plans to remain with the company and oversee her current responsibilities until a successor has been identified. "With the company on firm footing and preparing to embark on the next phase of its journey, it is a good time for me to pursue other endeavors and ensure a smooth transition," Bryce said in a statement.

Oliver Gloe was named CFO at Latham Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SWIM), a designer and manufacturer of in-ground residential swimming pools, effective Nov. 13. Gloe will join Latham on Oct. 30 as VP of finance before assuming the role of CFO. Mark Borseth, who currently serves as interim CFO, will transition to the role of strategic advisor to the company from Nov. 13-Dec. 31. Gloe joins Latham after serving with Fortune Brands Innovations as the CFO of outdoors and security. Before that, he served as CFO of global operations at Stanley Black & Decker. 

Abhi Khandelwal was named SVP and CFO at IDEX Corporation (NYSE: IEX), effective Nov. 20. Khandelwal returns to IDEX where he served from 2010 to early 2020 in several financial roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as VP of finance operations, treasury and financial planning and analysis. He joins IDEX after serving as CFO of Multi-Color Corporation, since 2022. And, before that, as SVP and CFO for CIRCOR International.

Stephen Weiland was named CFO at Hyzon Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: HYZN) , effective Nov. 1. Most recently, Weiland served as CFO for Boom Supersonic where he was responsible for the supersonic aircraft manufacturer's financial and information technology functions. Before his role at Boom, Weiland worked at Caterpillar as a Division CFO for manufacturing and engineering, digital, and procurement divisions.

Big deal

Global consulting firm Protiviti has released its annual Global Finance Trends Survey, which finds that 60% of finance leaders indicate a substantial increase in the focus and frequency of their reporting related to ESG issues.

More than half (57%) of publicly held and 40% of privately held companies report that measuring and reporting ESG risks and issues has become part of their finance team's role in the last year. This year, ESG metrics and measurements topped the list of priorities, followed by the impact of inflation, and financial planning and analysis came in third.

Another key finding in the report is the ability to recruit qualified candidates to address these priorities is a concern for a majority of CFOs. Not only does it top the list of HR and people-related challenges for CFOs today, but these leaders are more concerned about this area today (50%) versus last year (33%). CFOs and other finance leaders are facing a dual challenge of talent shortages for key positions and skillsets (including new skills) combined with interest in bringing in top performers, according to the report. 

The findings are based on a survey of over 900 global finance leaders, including CFOs, vice presidents, directors and managers, conducted in the second and third quarters of 2023.

Going deeper

Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:

"Who is Morgan Stanley’s new CEO Ted Pick? The bank veteran will succeed James Gorman at the start of 2024" by Orianna Rosa Royle 

"The man who named the bond vigilantes 40 years ago just crowned a new king as the bond market goes through a multitrillion-dollar wobble" by Will Daniel

"JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon slams central banks for their ‘100% dead wrong’ forecasts and ‘omnipotent feeling’" by Chloe Taylor 

"Orangetheory CEO: 6 things in my daily routine that help slow aging and add years to my life" by Alexa Mikhail 

Overheard

“We had a strong third quarter as our cost to serve and speed of delivery in our stores business took another step forward, our AWS growth continued to stabilize, our advertising revenue grew robustly, and overall operating income and free cash flow rose significantly.”

—Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, said in a statement accompanying the tech company's Q3 2023 earnings report released on Thursday. Net sales increased 13% to $143.1 billion in the third quarter, compared to the same time in 2022. During this year, Jassy has been focused on deep cost cuts and boosting profit.