How TIME and Statista Determined World’s Growth Leaders of 2026

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TIME magazine, working with the data company Statista, has published its first-ever ranking of the “World’s Growth Leaders 2026,” highlighting the best-performing publicly traded companies globally.

Methodology

The analysis is based on three primary dimensions:

• Growth Performance

• Financial Stability

• Stock Performance

We measured company Growth Performance using five years of revenue data from Statista. To be included, companies needed to be publicly traded and show consistent, strong revenue increases during that period. We looked at both how much revenue grew and how many years of growth they experienced.

We assessed the financial stability of the companies by looking at their profitability and using well-known financial indicators like the Piotroski F-Score and Altman Z-Score. These scores help gauge a company’s financial health and risk of bankruptcy. For companies in the banking, insurance, and real estate investment trust (REIT) sectors, we also used key performance indicators specific to those industries.

We assessed each company’s stock performance by looking at key factors that make it a good investment. This included its average yearly growth, recent returns, how it compares to the broader market, and how much its stock price has fluctuated over the last five years.

As a critic, I was curious how TIME and Statista determined their ‘World’s Growth Leaders 2026.’ Essentially, they gathered a ton of data, analyzed it, and then plugged everything into a scoring system. Each of three key areas contributed equally to a company’s final score, which was out of 100. The top 1,000 performers, those with the highest scores, earned that prestigious title. It’s a pretty straightforward, if somewhat opaque, method for identifying growth leaders.

See the full list here.

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2026-05-28 17:06