The Future 50

Our A.I. algorithm relies on natural language processing to detect a company’s strategic orientation from its SEC filings and annual reports. We assess the clarity of a company’s strategy from earnings calls. We also assess a company’s commitment to sustainability from its governance rating by Arabesque, a data-analytics firm.

A company’s capital expenditures and R&D (as a percentage of sales) measure its investment in the future. Technology advantage is assessed through the growth in a company’s citation-weighted patent portfolio and that portfolio’s digital intensity (share in computing and electronic communication). To account for external innovation, a company’s portfolio of startup investments and acquisitions is compared with the best-performing global venture capital funds.

The value of youthful and focused leadership is assessed by the age and stability of a company’s executives and directors and the size of its board. The company’s diversity is assessed by its share of employees and of management that is female, as well as the geographic backgrounds of its directors.

A company’s age and (revenue-based) size are correlated with vitality loss. But three-year and six-month sales growth are predictive of future growth as signs of revitalization.

Companies with negative cash flow from operations over the prior three years on average, indicating elevated performance risk, were excluded from the ranking.