BusinessWeek Rates Apple #34 in Best Performers

Apple has been ranked #34 on BusinessWeekis list of the best financial performers.

Looking at two core fiancial measures, average return on capital and sales growth, and comparison to their peers, BusinessWeek ranked fifty top companies from the Fortune 500. These fifty companies were characterized as those that have rewritten the rules and that are agitators and pioneers.

"These star performers in the class of 2007 are setting the agenda in their industries," BusinessWeek said.

In the last 36 months, Appleis total return has been 607 percent and the sales growth rate has been 47 percent. Not every company was able to match the 607 percent number, but based on the other criteria, and BusinessWeekis panel of editors and correspondents, Oracle placed at #27, Adobe at #19, Amazon at #11, and Google was #1.

Based on BusinessWeekis stated fiancial criteria, Microsoft placed outside the "best in class" at #63.