2019 was a big year for many companies — good and bad
Downtown chemical company Koppers jumped to the top spot in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s tally of public companies showing the most growth in 2019, a triumph of shifting its focus away from sectors with waning demand and of paying down debt.
Koppers, which climbed from a ranking of 38 in the previous year, has been restructuring during the past few years to shed the legacy carbon and chemicals businesses that supplied aluminum and other metals producers. Instead, the company is stepping up its focus on wood preservatives and products for the railroad and utility sectors.
Public companies analyzed in the annual Top 50 rankings were selected because they are either based in Western Pennsylvania or have a major presence here that makes them a factor in the region’s economy.
The formula examining a company’s overall growth calculates revenue change, net income change, stock price change and return on equity.
Unlike the formula used to tally the Pittsburgh region’s overall top performers, the growth calculation sets aside a company’s
market capitalization and actual revenue and net income figures. That way the growth list isn’t dominated by massive players like Verizon and Comcast, giving smaller players a chance to shine.
The world has changed dramatically since the start of 2020, when the first cases of COVID-19 began to surface. The pandemic has upended how business is run and supply chains function as many face stay-at-home orders and blocks on nonessential business operations, leaving much of this year uncertain.
Even if 2019 is looking pretty boring (something many people wouldn’t mind going back to) compared to the wild ride of 2020 so far, decisions that companies made last year will affect their strength coming into an environment overshadowed by COVID-19.
Wabtec Corp. shot up from a ranking of 24 in 2018 to second place in 2019. The rail products manufacturer had an eventful year — it closed on an $11 billion acquisition of GE Transportation, creating a Fortune 500 company.
Wabtec, which had long been headquartered in Wilmerding, relocated to the North Shore in October. The move was intended to accommodate the incoming GE employees as well as showcase a more modern feel for the company founded in 1869 by George Westinghouse.
Cecil-based oil and gas producer CNX Resources sank to the bottom of the list last year after holding a second-place ranking in 2018. But CNX wasn’t the only energy company to take a hit in 2019.
Last year proved to be a rough one for many drillers who have spent years pulling more fuel from the ground with ever more efficiency. The result has been more cheap natural gas on the market. And for the oil and gas producers, that has meant falling stock prices as commodity prices remain low.
Meanwhile, 2020 has brought little relief to the industry as U.S. crude prices plunged and fossil fuel industries reel from the one-two punch of production gluts and stalling demand in response to the pandemic.