The RQ50 is the set of 50 most innovative US companies in the market—those spending over $100 million in R&D, whose R&D investment creates the greatest value for their shareholders. From old-guard sectors, including industrials, oil and gas, and defense to toy makers and some of Silicon Valley's elite, the R&D cultures within the RQ50 prove that innovation isn't about spending big, it's about a relentless long-term focus on R&D that optimizes return on innovation to shareholders.
The RQ50 ranks companies based on their demonstrated actual ability to increase revenue from R&D, not the value of projected revenue increases. RQ measures the percentage increase in revenues associated with a 1 percent increase in R&D. What the list reveals is that spending more on R&D does not necessarily generate higher returns.
The proof is in the numbers: The RQ50 index portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 by over 900% during the last 40 years. Recent performance is less impressive, because company RQs are declining. Even still, the RQ50 has beaten the S&P500 over the last 6 years, with a return of 124.2% versus 82.8% for the S&P500.
My goal is to restore companies’ RQs, so they and investors receive higher returns, and the economy enjoys greater growth.
RQ Lookup Table
To find the FY2024 RQ for any company (the most recent fiscal year for which all companies have filed), enter it’s ticker. For reference, the mean RQ for U.S. traded firms in FY2024 was 97.4. The standard deviation was 11.0. At the mean RQ, a 10% increase in R&D should generate a 0.9% increase in revenues, holding everything else constant