Western Digital of Irvine, AFG Join Fortune 500 List

SAN FRANCISCO — If Rust Belt companies had cause to celebrate their strong resurgence last year, so too did many of California’s high-technology companies.

Paced by torrid exports and surging demand for new products, the high-tech manufacturers showed the greatest improvement among the 41 California concerns on Fortune magazine’s latest ranking of the nation’s top 500 industrial concerns.

“The recovery for the computer and electronics sectors has been very strong,” said Joseph Wahed, chief economist for Wells Fargo Bank.

Two Orange County companies made their debuts on the list. Glass manufacturer AFG Industries placed 488th and computer maker Western Digital grabbed the 499th spot.

In late March, however, AFG closed its corporate headquarters in Irvine and moved the operation to Fort Worth. AFG had sales last year of $488.4 million.

Irvine-based Western Digital barely cracked the list, with $462.5 million in sales.

Western Digital Chairman Roger W. Johnson said Wednesday that there are benefits to making the Fortune roster.

“I think it’s mostly a perception, but a lot of times the perception is important. It gives you more visibility,” Johnson said.

“It’s very important to our employees to understand the kind of success they’ve achieved,” he continued. “And it’s important to the investment community. Our company has grown so fast that it has not really been recognized (by Wall Street).”

Giant oil companies dominated the top of the list, with Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, Atlantic Richfield and Unocal holding four of the five top spots among California companies.

Computer manufacturers were strong across a wide spectrum of products. Apple Computer, the Cupertino-based pioneer in personal computing, jumped 38 spots to become the 152nd-largest company on the Fortune 500 list. The company has had strong sales of its Macintosh computers, particularly new models aimed at business markets.

Mainframe computer maker Amdahl climbed to the 231st spot from 310th, as sales climbed 56%. Amdahl also starred in the profit department: Its gain of 249% was the biggest in the computer industry.

Tandem Computers, whose machines are used mainly in transaction processing, jumped to 318th from 365th. And 6-year-old Sun Microsystems, a maker of scientific work stations, vaulted onto the list for the first time as No. 463, with a 156% increase in sales. Atari also broke onto the list as No. 484, as sales climbed 91%.

The state’s largest computer concern, Hewlett-Packard, increased its ranking only slightly, to 49th from 51st. Overall, the 25 U.S. computer companies listed by Fortune posted a median sales increase of 16% and a median profit rise of 27%.

Others Move Higher

California’s semiconductor companies, riding the surge in computer and other electronic equipment sales, showed big gains. Intel--the Santa Clara supplier of the hot 80386 microprocessor for top-of-the-line IBM personal computers--starred, becoming the 200th-largest industrial concern last year, up from 256th the year before.

Intel thus edged out rival National Semiconductor, which itself climbed to 204th from 227th. Advanced Micro Devices jumped strongly to No. 328, from 436, on the strength of its acquisition of Monolithic Memories last August. Still, the struggling company posted a loss of $48 million last year.

Seagate Technology, which supplies disk-drive memory storage devices for personal computers, surged to a ranking of 335, from 481.

The acquisition of Bear Creek propelled Shaklee, the San Francisco direct-sales vitamin and personal care products company, back onto the Fortune 500 after an absence of several years. Shaklee was 442nd.

Other California newcomers in cluded Magnetek, 419, and Homestake Mining, 471.

Lockheed, California’s fourth-largest public company, maintained its rank as the nation’s 30th-largest, while Northrop slipped to 69th from 64th, and Litton Industries fell to 96th from 83rd.

FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES: COMING AND GOING

Newcomers to the 500

1987 Sales Rank Affiliated Publications: 486

AFG Industries: 488

Allegheny Ludlum: 350

Apollo Computer: 454

Aristech Chemical: 344

Atari: 484

Avery: 426

Coca-Cola Enterprises: 126

Dixie Yarns: 438

Envirodyne Industries: 493

Faberge: 467

Fisher Scientific Group: 345

Great Lakes Chemical: 481

Grow Group: 480

Guilford Mills: 461

Harley-Davidson: 398

Harvard Industries: 449

Henley Manufacturing: 423

Homestake Mining: 471

Jepson: 464

Kimball International: 492

Knoll International: 191

Magnetek: 419

Marion Laboratories: 430

Newell: 386

Ohio Mattress: 429

Reynolds & Reynolds: 447

Schulman (A.): 498

Sun Microsystems: 463

Toro 469

Western Digital: 499

Displaced from the 500

1986 Sales Rank

Allen Group: 496

Alumax: 180

Amalgamated Sugar: 472

American Motors: 113

Anchor Hocking: 368

Anderson Clayton: 292

Atcor: 483

Barnes Group: 486

Celanese: 134

Chromalloy American: 352

Clevite Industries: 484

Collins & Aikman: 278

Constar International: 458

Dayco: 327

Diamond-Bathurst: 474

First City Industries: 401

Foster (L.B.): 455

Genesco: 450

Heileman (G.) Brewing: 267

Hughes Tool: 356

Katy Industries: 499

Kenner Parker Toys: 467

Kidde: 145

Lancaster Colony: 495

Lear Siegler: 156

Michigan Milk Prod. Assn.: 494

Monfort of Colorado: 216

Moore McCormack: 480

Nacco Industries: 429

Nashua: 381

NVF: 279

Reichhold Chemicals: 367

Rexnord: 281

Robertshaw Controls: 490

Rochester & Pittsburgh: 500

Sheller-Globe: 322

Southwest Forest Industries: 394

Staley Continental: 132

Tracor: 404

Winn Enterprises: 295

Wisconsin Dairies Cooperative: 482