TOP 25 BY SECTOR
STARBUCKS, PIZZA HUT AND A BOWLING ALLEY TOO
WHEN THE U.S. ECONOMY IS STRONG, as it was from
2003 to 2006, consumer-oriented companies do well.
A variety of businesses, from amusement venues
to publishers, make up Baseline’s consumer discretionary sector. Topping the sector is Bowl America,
a Springfield, Va., bowling alley operator, with an IP
score of 296%. That score placed the
company 29th in the Baseline 500.
The Baseline 500 is inherently a little
backward looking, based as it is on the
past three years’ results. That explains
the heavy presence of real estate developers and homebuilders, which occupy
CONSUMER six of the top 10 spots in the list to the
DISCRETIONARY right, led by Stratus Properties, an
Austin developer. We wouldn’t expect real estate
companies to maintain their strong showings if the
housing slump continues.
A few large restaurants and beverage businesses
also made the cut, including Sonic (No. 10 on this
list, No. 80 overall), Ruby Tuesday (Nos. 19 and
127, respectively) and Starbucks (Nos. 23 and 143).
A bigger eatery, Yum Brands (operator of KFC and
Pizza Hut), also made the Baseline 500, at No. 245,
but failed to rank in the sector’s top 25.
—Brian P. Watson
RANK COMPANY
1 BOWL AMERICA
2 STRATUS PROPERTIES
3 DOVER DOWNS GAMING & ENTMT
4 AVATAR HOLDINGS
5 BROOKFIELD HOMES
6 BLUE RIDGE REAL ESTATE
7 NVR
8 REGAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
9 CONSOLIDATED TOMOKA LAND
10 SONIC
11 CHOICE HOTELS INTL
12 TARRAGON
13 ST JOE
14 WHITEMARK HOMES
15 CEDAR FAIR
16 PRIMEDIA
17 RENT-A-CENTER
18 HOMEFED
19 RUBY TUESDAY
20 HARTE HANKS
21 INTL SPEEDWAY
22 NOBLE ROMANS
23 STARBUCKS
24 HARLEY-DAVIDSON
25 SORL AUTO PARTS
INDUSTRY
AMUSEMENT & RECREATION SVCS
SUBDIVIDE, DEV, EX CEMETERY
MISC AMUSEMEN T & REC SERVICE
OPERATIVE BUILDERS
OPERATIVE BUILDERS
REAL ESTATE
OPERATIVE BUILDERS
MOTION PIC TURE THEATERS
REAL ESTATE
EATING PLACES
PATEN T OWNERS AND LESSORS
SUBDIVIDE, DEV, EX CEMETERY
SUBDIVIDE, DEV, EX CEME TERY
GEN BLDG CON TRAC TOR-RESIDN TL
AMUSEMENT PARKS
PERIODICAL: PUBG, PUBG & PRIN T
EQUIP REN TAL & LEASING, NEC
SUBDIVIDE, DEV, EX CEME TERY
EATING PLACES
DIRECT MAIL ADVERTISING SVCS
RACING, INCL TRACK OPERATIONS
PATEN T OWNERS AND LESSORS
EATING PLACES
MOTORC YCLES, BIC YCLES & PARTS
MOTOR VEHICLE PART, ACCESSORY
INFORMATION
PRODUCTIVITY
296%
264%
258%
220%
175%
170%
142%
133%
133%
130%
128%
126%
110%
107%
103%
102%
100%
99%
93%
91%
87%
85%
85%
84%
82%
BIG NAMES DON’T MEAN BIG SCORES. HERE’S WHY
INFORMATION PRODUCTIVITY HERE’S ONE CATEGORY—maybe the one category—in
183% which the majority of names are familiar. These are the
99% companies you grew up with, whose soda and soups you
89% still drink, whose gum you still chew, whose soaps you
69% still use to wash your face and clean your kitchen floor.
62% For the most part, they are also big companies—three-
61% quarters of the consumer discretionary companies on
60% the list to the left have sales of more than $1 billion.
59% Most of these companies operate in highly com-
53% petitive industries and must fight for every penny of
53% profit they make. You may be a big fan
52% of Coke (No. 13 on our list), but if it
50% suddenly doubled the prices of its soft
45% drinks, would you really think twice
36% about defecting to Pepsi (No. 20 on
36% our list)? Profit being a big input in the
34% core Baseline formula, it’s not surprising
BASELINE OCTOBER, 2007
34%
that as a group, consumer staples com-
33%
panies have low IP scores. CONSUMER
32% Which is not to say these companies STAPLES
32%
don’t know how to use technology. Tobacco, alcohol and
31%
food producers, for example, make extensive use of ERP
29%
systems to handle billing, inventory and distribution.
29%
28% And they are in the vanguard when it comes to using
28% business intelligence software to track sales by product
36 line and demographic. –Brian P. Watson
RANK COMPANY
1 LOEWS CP-CAROLINA GROUP
2 UST
3 SEABOARD
4 ANHEUSER-BUSCH
5 CLOROX/DE
6 LANCASTER COLONY
7 HERSHEY
8 ROCK Y MOUNTAIN CHOC FACT
9 AMERICAN ORIENTAL BIOENGR
10 UNITED-GUARDIAN
11 HANSEN NATURAL
12 KIMBERLY-CLARK
13 COCA-COLA
14 REYNOLDS AMERICAN
15 GENERAL MILLS
16 PROCTER & GAMBLE
17 HEINZ (H J)
18 CAMPBELL SOUP
19 COLGATE-PALMOLIVE
20 PEPSICO
21 KELLOGG
22 ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND
23 AMERICAN DAIRY
24 WRIGLEY (WM) JR
25 VECTOR GROUP
INDUSTRY
TOBACCO PRODUC TS
TOBACCO PRODUC TS
MEAT PACKING PLANTS
MALT BEVERAGES
SPECIAL CLEAN, POLISH PREPS
CAN, FROZN,PRESRV FRUIT & VEG
SUGAR & CONFEC TIONERY PRODS
SUGAR & CONFEC TIONERY PRODS
PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS
PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS
B TLD & CAN SOF T DRINKS, WATER
PAPER MILLS
BEVERAGES
CIGARETTES
GRAIN MILL PRODUCTS
SOAP, DE TERGENT, TOILE T PREPS
CAN, FROZEN, PRESRV FRUI T & VEG
CAN, FROZEN, PRESRV FRUIT & VEG
PERFUME, COSMETIC, TOILE T PREP
BEVERAGES
GRAIN MILL PRODUCTS
FATS AND OILS
DAIRY PRODUC TS
SUGAR & CONFEC TIONERY PRODS
CIGARETTES
