For Owings Mills-based
Medifast, Inc., a purveyor of prepackaged, portioned weightloss meal plans, , the third times the charm. The company took the top spot in Forbes Magazine's 2010 list of "
America's 100 Best Small Companies." In 2008, Medifast earned its first mention on list as the 85th best small biz, rising to No. 16 on the list in 2009.
Under Armour and
Joseph A. Bank also made the list earning the No. 28 and No. 48 spots, respectively.
"We are extremely pleased to be recognized by Forbes for the third consecutive year, and being ranked as the top small company in America is an amazing honor and achievement," says Michael S. McDevitt, CEO of Medifast.
According to Forbes, the rankings are based on earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity in the past 12 months and over five years.
"We dropped companies with fuzzy accounting or looming legal troubles. We also compared the stock performance of each company with that of its peers. Shares of last year's list members outpaced the Russell by 10 percentage points," Forbes says, "Medifast is on a tear. Sales have marched north 41% a year over the past five years and earnings per share have increased 35% a year during the same period. The past 12 months have been even better, with sales increasing 69% and earnings jumping 120%."
The company made it to the top of the list churning out $218 million in annual sales, a 41 percent increase over the previous five years and earnings per share that have increased 35 percent a year during the same period.
Source: Medifast
Writer: Walaika Haskins