By Charlotte Hu

Copyright time

Nike (no. 14) is the highest ranked Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods company, surpassing luxury giant LVMH (no. 21) and athleisure queen Lululemon (no. 36). The company faced a few rocky years due to competition from breakout brands like On and Hoka, and last year brought in a new CEO, Elliott Hill, to invest “heavily in big sport moments and key product launches to win back our brand voice,” Hill said in an earnings call in June. In summer, game day looks for tennis champions Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner bumped sales.

Drugmaker Novo Nordisk (no. 15) is also innovating to stay ahead. Building on the popularity of its game-changing diabetes and weightloss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, the company is now launching an oral semaglutide to retain its lead against rivals like Eli Lilly. “When we think about the obesity market in the U.S., everyone knows we’re in a competitive environment,” David Moore, EVP of US operations at Novo Nordisk, said in an earnings call in August. “We’re still growing. The market’s growing.”