L.A.’s 60 largest public companies fared reasonably well on Wall Street over the past year, but not as well on Main Street.

These 60 companies collectively managed to hold their own for market performance, posting a 20% jump in market capitalization over the past year to $737 billion, according to an analysis of market cap data for the Business Journal’s annual list. That was slightly below the 26% gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the 25% increase in the broad Russell 3000 index; these two are the most similar to the mix of companies on the Business Journal list.

Revenue growth was more modest. Collectively, the 60 companies posted a 7.3% gain in revenue last year to nearly $307 billion.

But net income, which measures profitability, fell last year by $5.45 billion, or 25%, to a collective $16.5 billion. Just over half (31) of the 60 companies saw net income drop in 2023 compared with 2022, including several that reported bigger losses than in the previous year.

No company better exemplified this split performance than Brentwood-based Banc of California Inc. This regional bank was the second biggest percentage gainer in market cap on the list, jumping 253% to $2.35 billion. But it posted a 79% drop in revenue last year to $278 million, while swinging to a loss last year of nearly $1.9 billion as the bank struggled with underperforming loans.

Granted, the time frames were slightly different (June 30 of last year to July 15 of this year for the market cap and calendar year 2022 to 2023 for the financial metrics), but there was still a six-month overlap.

Last November, the bank merged with PacWest Bancorp and finances have since stabilized; the bank holding company last week reported second quarter net income of $20.4 million, while net income for the first half of this year added up to $41 million.

Returning to the Business Journal’s market cap list, 43 of the 60 companies on the list posted gains in market cap between June 30 of last year and July 15 of this year, the time period analyzed on this year’s Business Journal list.

The biggest gainers in dollar terms were biotech giant Amgen Inc. (up $58 billion to $177 billion), Walt Disney Co. (up $24 billion to $187 billion) and private equity firm Ares Management Corp. (up $9 billion to $26 billion). Amgen’s gain was in part due to federal regulators finally approving its acquisition of Irish pharmaceutical company Horizon Therapeutics.

On a percentage basis, the biggest gainers were GigaCloud Technology Inc. (up 341% to $1.22 billion), Banc of California (up 253%) and Tutor Perini Corp. (up 247%).

 

The biggest market cap losers in dollar terms were biotech firm Acelyrin Inc. (down $1.42 billion), toymaker Mattel Inc. (down $1.18 billion) and Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. (down $993 million).

Acelyrin was also the biggest percentage loser, shedding 70% of its market cap. In September, the Agoura Hills-based biotech firm announced that its lead drug candidate to treat skin diseases failed to show significant positive results in a late-stage clinical trial.

 

Other major percentage losers were Kennedy-Wilson and Fulgent Genetics Inc. (down 44% and 43% respectively).

On the revenue front, 43 of the 60 companies on the Business Journal list recorded gains in revenue, led by a jump of $6.18 billion at Walt Disney Co. and $6.07 billion at Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Banc of California’s $1.06 billion drop in revenue was the largest, followed by Edison International (down $882 million) and Marcus & Millichap Inc. (down $681 million).

On a percentage basis, Banc of California had the biggest revenue drop, followed by Fulgent Genetics and Marcus & Millichap, both falling around 53%.

Last year, 17 of the 60 companies lost money. Again, after Banc of California, Snap Inc. posted the biggest loss of $1.32 billion, followed by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. with a loss of $1.1 billion).

Making an Exit

Two companies, previous staples of the list, did not qualify this year.

Last year Microsoft Corp. purchased Activision Blizzard Inc. for $69 billion. Activision, which is based in Santa Monica, is one of the largest video game studios in the world. Its titles include “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” and it owns a number of smaller studios in the area. Last year, it ranked No. 3 with a market cap of $65 billion.

And legal and management tech company LegalZoom.com Inc. in April became the latest corporation to leave Los Angeles County, taking with it its then market cap of $1.26 billion. After calling Glendale home since 2010, the company relocated its headquarters to Mountain View while still maintaining some local operations. It was founded in 2001 by, among others, attorney Robert Shapiro – a key member of O.J. Simpson’s “Dream Team” of defense counselors. LegalZoom was the No. 35 company in last year’s list, with a market cap of $2.4 billion.