Best & Worst in Money 2008: Company of the year

Posted Dec 7th 2008 6:40PM by Amey Stone
Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT), McDonald's (MCD), Family Dollar Stores (FDO), Amgen Inc (AMGN), Wells Fargo (WFC)

This post is part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst in Money 2008 feature.

If you think the Company of the Year award should go to the best-performing stock in the S&P 500, you have a clear choice (if you look at the results through November at least). The winner on that score is Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO), which was up 34% as of Dec. 3. All dollar stores are doing well in the current recession-era shopping environment. But Family Dollar does particularly well since, unlike most dollar stores, few of the items for sale actually cost $1.

I shopped at a Family Dollar myself last weekend and I spent a shocking $80 on Christmas trinkets and snacks for our long road-trip home from Grandma's. I think one item in the bunch cost only a dollar, but pretty much everything was under $10 and seemed like a good value at the time. I can understand why the company is doing well.

But if you think the company of the year award should go to an American company that is a little more, well, iconic and still managed to do well for investors this year, then Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) would be your pick. WMT stock was up 14% through Dec. 3, making it one of the few blue chip companies to have returns in the black. Obviously, low prices are in vogue this year.

Another candidate, Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), is up 23% this year and investors are probably patting themselves on the back these days. They get to be in a sexy sector like biotech and have some gains to boast about. Pharmaceutical companies, traditionally defensive plays, have done relatively well this year. But Amgen has both a strong pipeline of new drugs and current success from anemia drugs.

Of course, you could also pick a company of the year, even if its stock price isn't up. How 'bout considering the bank that seems to have done the best job avoiding the mortgage-backed securities mess? The stock of Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is down 7% this year, which is darn good considering a competitor like Citigroup is down 73% this year.

Finally, McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) is one of our nominees this year. Its stock is only up 1%. But same-store sales in the recent quarter climbed 6% to 8%, with particular strength in Europe and Asia. The company has also made progress beating back charges that its contributes to the nation's obesity rates, partly by adding new menu items.

Clearly, most of its recent success is due to its cheap prices. Investors and nutritionists may not be cheering yet. But you may still want to give McDonald's the nod for improving its image and its sales growth in a year when most restaurants -- and stocks in every sector -- are slumping.

Share the reasons for your Company of the Year pick in the comments, or let us know about any contenders we overlooked. Also be sure to see the rest of the Best & Worst in Money 2008.