Star Tribune 50

The effects of the pandemic have not been even across all companies. The three largest companies on the list -- UnitedHealth, Target and Best Buy -- fared the best, collectively seeing an increased $34 billion in revenue as they adapted to major trends in retail and health care that have played out in the previous year. Together, the big three’s sales were up 9.4% over 2019, while nearly half of the remaining companies lost revenue.

Even the top three, though, saw some effects from the pandemic. Target and UnitedHealth had to add employees last year as a shift to online ordering and safety measures in retail and an expansion in the health services businesses required more resources. As e-commerce continued to change retail, Best Buy ended the year with employment falling more than 18%.Companies managed their costs and liquidity through the pandemic, but collectively, the 50 companies saw net income decline more than 12% as the broader economy was hurt by COVID-19. The stock market showed the earliest and most sustained recovery of the pandemic. With market cap measured from April 30, 2020, to April 30, 2021, only two companies saw their market capitalization decrease. The market was also conducive to initial public offerings, adding four new companies to the list via IPOs.