Ford Motor Company

Ford (NYSE: F) was a bankruptcy candidate when U.S. auto sales bottomed in 2007 and 2008. However, it was the only one of The Big Three to stay out of Chapter 11. The company picked up market share with a new line of cars and light trucks that were both fuel-efficient and well-designed. Ford sold 743,496 vehicles in the first half of 2009 and 953,146 in the first half of this year. The company
may pull ahead of GM as the No.1 U.S. car company between now and the beginning of 2011.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle (NYSE: CMG), the hugely successful Mexican restaurant chain, was acquired and later spun off by McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) two years ago. It has outgrown most of its competition since then. Company management says its plans to add 24 locations this year and at least 120 in 2011.

The Huffington Post

The blog, news, and commentary site now has more visitors than any online newspaper site in the U.S. except The New York Times. And it may pass the Grey Lady in the next year. Huffington’s fast-paced commentary, wit, and its way with photos and headlines has helped its audience grow from 6.8 million unique visitors in June 2009 to 13.4 million last month, according to Compete.

WalMart

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is already so large that it is hard to imagine that it could add locations. Last year it had revenue of over $400 billion, making it the largest company in America. It has 2 million employees around the world, and the company’s CEO recently said Walmart will create 500,000 jobs over the next five years. Walmart’s presence in hot markets such as China has more than made up for its slowing growth in the U.S. The firm’s store count went from 7,904 last year to a total of 8,445 so far in 2010.

Douglas A. McIntyre