Patterson-UTI Energy ranks No. 43 on FORTUNE's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies List

(Fortune) -- Patterson-UTI Energy (Charts) ranks no. 43 on Fortune's 2006 list of the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies. The Snyder, Texas-based company saw profits rise at a rate of 270% and revenues grow 47% with a stock return of 21% on average annually over the past three years.

Each year, Fortune's ranking of Fastest-Growing Companies provides a snapshot of America's economy, and this year the picture is drenched in oil. Last year 18 energy firms cracked the top 100 - up from four in 2000. Now more than a third of the roster - 34 companies - are in the energy biz.

But oil is hardly the whole story. Computer and biotech firms make their usual strong showing. Catering to Americans' obsession with how they look (and how well they see) has been remarkably lucrative: LCA-Vision, a laser surgery provider, lands at no. 5, followed closely by Palomar Medical Technologies, which makes laser devices used in cosmetic skin treatments.

This year, just two homebuilders made the cut: Toll Brothers at No. 98 and Meritage Homes at No. 99. Last year there were four homebuilders and two land developers on the list.

Fortune's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list is an annual ranking of U.S. companies by three-year growth in sales, profits and total return that meet key criteria for sales, profit and market capitalization size and sales and profit growth.

Other energy companies on the list this year include: Edge Petroleum (Charts), Frontier Oil (Charts), Valero Energy (Charts), Sunoco (Charts), and ConocoPhillips (Charts).

Next: Full list: 100 Fastest-Growing Companies at http://www.money.com/fastestgrowing

Plus: See Patterson-UTI Energy's Fastest-Growing details, including financial stats and contact information.  Top of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.