Adtran's growth garners notice
Firm places 85th on BusinessWeek Online's annual list
Friday, May 26, 2006
Huntsville-based Adtran Inc. is No. 85 on BusinessWeek Online's Hot Growth Companies list of 100 top U.S. publicly traded firms.
The list, announced Thursday, notes Adtran's 55 percent annual average profit growth during the past three years and its 14.1 percent annual sales growth during the same period. In 2005, the company had record sales of $517 million, up from $454 million in 2004.
Adtran makes high-speed telecommunications equipment. It has products that enable voice, data, video and Internet communications across copper, fiber and wireless networks.
The company's market niche is developing products that sell for thousands less than competitors such as Cisco, Lucent and Nortel.
This is the first year Adtran has made the list.
To compile its annual list of 100 hottest companies, BusinessWeek combs a database of 5,275 public companies with annual revenue of $50 million to $1.5 billion. Companies are ranked by sales and earnings growth and return on capital over a three-year period.
To be considered for the final ranking, companies must have a market capitalization of $25 million or more and a stock that trades for at least $5 a share, with shares rising at least 5 percent during the past 12 months.
Adtran has about 1,600 employees. Its main design facility is in Huntsville, with additional design work in Phoenix. Sales offices are throughout the U.S. and in Australia, Ireland and Hong Kong.
CEO profiled
Adtran's CEO also received recognition recently. Tom Stanton, 41, is featured in the May edition of Business Alabama magazine. The magazine, published by PMT Publishing of Birmingham, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a series of profiles highlighting industry leaders around the state.
Adtran shares, traded on the Nasdaq, closed Thursday up a penny at $24.45.
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