28 companies ranked.
Each the best in its category.

Steward estimates from the NPX-100 founding evaluation cycle — five sectors, five countries, each company shown at GICS sub-industry level. All 28 cleared the six-gate eligibility screen. None have reached the 97-point constituent threshold. Official pilot watch list delivers to founding subscribers 2026-11-04. First full quarterly publication 2027-02-04.

28gate-clear candidates

0at constituent threshold (97+)

23watch list (85–96)

5engagement pool (75–84)

5sectors · 5 countries

▲ Leading composite score · #1 in Information Technology

Microsoft Corporation

MSFT · NASDAQ · United States · Systems Software

91.2

Watch List · 85–96

The highest composite in the founding pool. Nadella-era CEO communications are the strongest EC profile among mega-caps globally — Nokia and Surface RT acknowledged by name, in the annual letter, with context. DH = 93 reflects Azure + Office 365 platform lock-in across enterprise customers who cannot switch without retraining hundreds of thousands of staff. FC remains the growth gap: quarterly guidance windows are shorter than the three-year ranges that score highest on FC-3. If Microsoft adopts full-year forward guidance with stated EPS ranges, composite reaches 93–94.

DH 93 EC 85 — strongest mega-cap EQ 91

▼ Lowest composite in founding pool · #8 in Industrials

Fastenal Company

FAST · NASDAQ · United States · Trading Companies & Distributors

78.5

Engagement Pool · 75–84

78.5 on the NPX-100 framework places Fastenal in the top tier of industrial distributors globally. Fastenal cleared every eligibility gate. The score does not reflect management character — it reflects a specific format gap: Fastenal does not publish annual EPS or revenue guidance ranges, so FC-1 and FC-3 cannot be scored against a stated company forecast.

What Fastenal is best at: capital discipline. CD = 89 is the highest CD score among all eight Industrials in the founding pool. Zero net debt. ROIC of 33–38%. Monthly net sales reporting — published every third Thursday — is operationally unique in the distribution sector and the closest equivalent to a public prediction record in the Industrials cohort. If Fastenal adopted formal annual EPS guidance, FC could lift to 88–90 and composite would move to 86–88 (watch list).

CD 89 — #1 CD among all Industrials FC gap — no formal guidance

All 28 candidates · ranked by composite

Every company here is the best in something. The rank is a snapshot, not a verdict.

Sector rank shows each company's position within its GICS sector in this pool. GICS sub-industry appears below the ticker. Category strength identifies what each company leads — by axis score, documented attribute, or sector position. All 28 cleared every gate; the 97-point constituent threshold is intentionally strict. NEW marks companies added to the founding pool beyond the initial 18.

#	Company · sub-industry	Sector	Score	Band	Sector rank	Category strength
1	Microsoft Corporation MSFT · NASDAQ · US Systems Software	Info Tech	91.2	Watch List	#1 / 10 IT	Strongest EC for any mega-cap. Nadella acknowledges Nokia, Surface RT, mobile miss — by name. DH 93 reflects Azure + Office 365 enterprise lock-in.
2	Visa Inc V · NYSE · US Transaction & Payment Processing Services	Financials	90.1	Watch List	#1 / 6 Fin	Highest EQ in the entire founding pool (94). Network economics produce near-zero accruals. DH 95 — two-sided payment network moat 60+ years in the making.
3	Mastercard Incorporated MA · NYSE · US Transaction & Payment Processing Services	Financials	90.0	Watch List	#2 / 6 Fin	Highest DH among large-cap Financials (94). Ratings duopoly equivalent in payments. EC slightly higher than Visa — Miebach letters acknowledge competitive positioning risks.
4	ASML Holding NV ASML · Euronext AMS / NASDAQ · NL Semiconductor Equipment	Info Tech	89.5	Watch List	#2 / 10 IT	Highest DH in the entire founding pool (97). EUV lithography monopoly — 100,000-component machines that competitors cannot replicate within a decade. €38.8B backlog entering 2026.
5	Broadridge Financial Solutions BR · NYSE · US Data Processing & Outsourced Services	Info Tech	89.4	Watch List	#3 / 10 IT	Best ST precision structure in the pool (ST 92). Publishes 3-year financial targets at each investor day and compares actuals against prior-cycle targets. Proxy processing near-monopoly (>80% US market share).
6	Novo Nordisk A/S NVO · Nasdaq CPH / NYSE ADR · DK Pharmaceuticals	Health Care	89.2	Watch List	#1 / 3 HC	#1 in Health Care. GLP-1 manufacturing moat (15+ years of semaglutide clinical data). Foundation ownership aligns long-term. Supply constraint candor is unusually frank for a pharma CEO.
7	Automatic Data Processing ADP · NASDAQ · US Data Processing & Outsourced Services	Info Tech	88.9	Watch List	#4 / 10 IT	49 consecutive years of dividend increases. FC 90 reflects consistent delivery within narrow guidance ranges. Payroll SaaS switching costs — changing providers requires data migration and compliance re-setup for every client.
8	Wolters Kluwer NV WKL · Euronext AMS · NL Application Software	Info Tech	88.7	Watch List	#5 / 10 IT	Highest ST in the founding pool (93). Annual report contains a target-vs-actual scorecard that states what was targeted and achieved — a format unique in global reporting. Dutch KPMG-audited professional information services.
9	Danaher Corporation NEW DHR · NYSE · US Life Sciences Tools & Services	Health Care	88.7	Watch List	#2 / 3 HC	Danaher Business System is the most explicitly documented operational improvement framework in global industry. Life sciences tools infrastructure embeds into drug development workflows — FDA-validated instruments cannot be replaced without revalidation.
10	S&P Global Inc SPGI · NYSE · US Financial Exchanges & Data	Financials	88.5	Watch List	#3 / 6 Fin	S&P 500 trademark — an extraordinary intangible moat. DH 90. Ratings duopoly with Moody's. IHS Markit integration delays acknowledged openly in CEO communications.
11	Moody's Corporation MCO · NYSE · US Financial Exchanges & Data	Financials	88.5	Watch List	#4 / 6 Fin	Highest DH among all Financials (91). Ratings duopoly is a near-regulated oligopoly. Berkshire Hathaway's long-term ownership is itself a governance signal.
12	W.W. Grainger Inc NEW GWW · NYSE · US Trading Companies & Distributors	Industrials	87.8	Watch List	#1 / 8 Ind	#1 in Industrials. Best FC structure in industrial distribution. Segment-level guidance with margin targets. CD 88 from consistent dividend growth. High-service-level distribution with 2M+ SKUs creates customer lock-in.
13	CME Group Inc NEW CME · NASDAQ · US Financial Exchanges & Data	Financials	87.6	Watch List	#5 / 6 Fin	Only global marketplace for benchmark futures — S&P, Treasuries, FX, commodities. Network effect in financial clearing is essentially irreversible. DH 90 from near-impossible-to-replicate clearing infrastructure.
14	Illinois Tool Works Inc ITW · NYSE · US Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components	Industrials	87.6	Watch List	#2 / 8 Ind	50+ consecutive years of dividend increases. CD 90. The 80/20 simplification strategy — targets disclosed and compared annually — is one of the most explicitly tracked operational frameworks in global industrials.
15	Jack Henry & Associates JKHY · NASDAQ · US Data Processing & Outsourced Services	Info Tech	87.6	Watch List	#6 / 10 IT	~97% community bank client retention. SK 85. Changing core banking systems takes years and costs millions — average customer lifetime measured in decades, not years.
16	FactSet Research Systems NEW FDS · NASDAQ · US Financial Data & Analytics	Info Tech	87.2	Watch List	#7 / 10 IT	97%+ client retention — strongest SK signal in the IT cohort. Professionals who build custom screening workflows on FactSet cannot switch without rebuilding years of analytics. Only data terminal with multi-year documented ASV growth prediction tracked publicly.
17	Roper Technologies Inc ROP · NASDAQ · US Application Software	Info Tech	87.1	Watch List	#8 / 10 IT	Best M&A discipline in the IT cohort — zero material goodwill impairments. Niche vertical software (insurance, government contracting, media) with mission-critical switching costs. EQ 88 from high FCF/NI SaaS portfolio.
18	Costco Wholesale Corporation NEW COST · NASDAQ · US Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail	Con. Staples	86.6	Watch List	#1 / 1 CS	#1 in Consumer Staples. Highest SK in the retail sector. Membership renewal rate — disclosed quarterly — provides a recurring forward-looking signal unique in retail. EC: management has publicly acknowledged warehouse format failures and corrected course.
19	Intercontinental Exchange Inc NEW ICE · NYSE · US Financial Exchanges & Data	Financials	86.5	Watch List	#6 / 6 Fin	NYSE + fixed-income data infrastructure — multi-market moat. ICE Data Services prices fixed-income instruments for the global bond market. ICE Clear Credit serves as central counterparty for credit default swaps. DH 88.
20	Veeva Systems Inc NEW VEEV · NYSE · US Application Software	Info Tech	86.5	Watch List	#9 / 10 IT	Life sciences CRM near-monopoly — ~80% share in pharmaceutical sales force software. Replacing Veeva Vault requires rebuilding FDA-validated regulatory workflows — a multi-year process. Strongest regulatory-moat DH story in the IT cohort.
21	Cintas Corporation CTAS · NASDAQ · US Diversified Support Services	Industrials	86.2	Watch List	#3 / 8 Ind	Route density moat — 1M+ business clients. EQ 88 driven by record operating margin 22.7%. EC is the growth axis: CEO letters are professional but not yet at quantified-mistake-acknowledgment standard.
22	Accenture PLC NEW ACN · NYSE · IE IT Consulting & Other Services	Info Tech	85.2	Watch List	#10 / 10 IT	Most consistent large-cap IT services FC record — 10+ consecutive years of guidance delivery within stated range. Explicit annual EPS and revenue guidance with segment margin targets. Global talent sourcing is the structural moat.
23	Graco Inc GGG · NYSE · US Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components	Industrials	85.1	Watch List	#4 / 8 Ind	Specification moat — contractors specify Graco by name. 600+ patents in fluid handling. CD 88. ROIC 23–24%. No net debt. Engineers who train on Graco do not switch to competitors.
Engagement Pool · 75–84 · gate-clear, below watch-list threshold
24	West Pharmaceutical Services NEW WST · NYSE · US Health Care Supplies	Health Care	84.2	Engagement Pool	#3 / 3 HC	Regulatory qualification moat — switching requires FDA revalidation (multi-year). Drug containment and delivery components embedded in 50+ pharmaceutical production lines. Injectable drug growth drives structural demand durability.
25	Nordson Corporation NEW NDSN · NASDAQ · US Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components	Industrials	84.2	Engagement Pool	#5 / 8 Ind	Specification moat in precision dispensing — customers specify Nordson by model number. Fluid and adhesive dispensing for electronics, packaging, and medical devices. 500+ active patents. Very long product lifecycles (10+ years in many applications).
26	Old Dominion Freight Line ODFL · NASDAQ · US Ground Transportation	Industrials	83.4	Engagement Pool	#6 / 8 Ind	Best employer in LTL trucking. SK 86 — highest SK among all Industrials in the pool. 250+ service centers built over decades are near-impossible to replicate. FC constraint: no formal annual EPS guidance published.
27	IDEX Corporation IEX · NYSE · US Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components	Industrials	83.2	Engagement Pool	#7 / 8 Ind	Niche flow and measurement dominance — businesses that lead their sub-markets. CD 87. FC (72) impacted by 2025 mid-year downward revision; trailing-12-quarter review may recover score if 2025 was a cycle outlier.
28	Fastenal Company FAST · NASDAQ · US Trading Companies & Distributors	Industrials	78.5	Engagement Pool	#8 / 8 Ind	Highest CD among all Industrials in the founding pool (89). Zero net debt. ROIC 33–38%. Monthly sales reporting — 3rd Thursday every month — is unique in the sector. The floor is a format gap, not a character gap.

Sectors: Info Tech (GICS 45) · 10 companies Financials (GICS 40) · 6 companies Industrials (GICS 20) · 8 companies Health Care (GICS 35) · 3 companies Con. Staples (GICS 30) · 1 company

Why no company has reached 97

Three axes block the entire pool from constituent status.

FC · Forecast Calibration · 22% weight

Guidance specificity gap

Most companies either (a) provide quarterly guidance windows only — too short to score FC-3 fully — or (b) use qualitative bands ("high single-digit") that penalize specificity. FC is the single highest-weight axis at 22%. A 5-point FC lift adds 1.1 to composite. Even the strongest companies in the pool (MSFT, ADP, V) have room on this axis.

EC · Error Culture · 8% weight

CEO candor is structurally rare

Even the highest EC scores in the pool (MSFT 85, WKL 85) reflect a genuine rarity: CEOs who acknowledge quantified, named mistakes in their annual communications. Most CEO letters are success narratives. The methodology does not credit humility that is not explicit and quantified. EC is the binding constraint for 16 of 28 companies.

Visa and Mastercard score 73 and 76 here — not because management is evasive, but because the business has been so successful that there are few material failures to acknowledge. The methodology cannot score what hasn't happened.

The 97-point threshold is intentional. The NPX-100 methodology (§S10.1) commits to publishing with however many companies clear 97+ — never inflating to reach a round count. Zero constituents at founding is consistent with a strict standard. The pool size at each quarterly publication is itself a disclosed integrity signal.

Disclosures · scoring basis · what this is not

These are pilot estimates. Not the official constituent list.

Scoring basis

All 28 candidates carry K-basis (knowledge-based) scores: steward inference from public reputation, media coverage, and general disclosures. The initial 18 companies have partial P-basis (primary-sourced) data from SEC filings, annual reports, and earnings releases. All 10 expanded-pool additions (NEW) are fully K-basis at this stage. K-basis scores require primary-source verification before the 2026-11-04 watch list is delivered to founding subscribers.

What this is not

These scores are not an official constituent list, a watch list, or an investment recommendation. They represent the founding evaluation cycle — a working document — not a publication artifact. The official watch list delivers 2026-11-04. The first quarterly publication, with constituent list, eight artifacts, Brier ledger, and conflict-of-interest disclosure, delivers 2027-02-04. No score published here implies a company meets or fails the NPX-100 constituent standard.

Methodology v2.0.0 · hash 438537fac91ca1fe9b582a2f41bbba8a789132e516eb9bfee2cedc75fa0c1c04 · founding evaluation scored Q2–Q3 2026 · 28 candidates (18 founding + 10 expanded pool) · 0 constituents · workbook /npx-100-founding-evaluation-2026.json

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28 companies ranked.Each the best in its category.