24 MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS

24 MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS

INDUSTRY: SEMICONDUCTORS

SALES: $2 BILLION

NET INCOME: $387.4 MILLION

MEMC Electronic Materials is hardly a household name, but its brand shines brightly in the solar power industry. MEMC is a leading supplier of solar-grade silicon wafers, which are cut into chips for the semiconductor industry. The St. Peters (Mo.) company has benefited from a lock on a hard-to-find material called polysilicon that's used in the solar industry and has posted double-digit sales growth every year since 2005. But newly appointed CEO Ahmad Chatila may face a tougher time as rivals bring new capacity online and chip demand slips. Analysts say this year could be the worst in the industry's history.