| Index of coverage | Top Ten 1. Teradyne Inc. 2. Analog Devices Inc. 3. LTX Corp. 4. EMC Corp. 5. Helix Tech. Corp. 6. ACT Manufacturing 7. Millipore Corp. 8. Talbots Inc. 9. Cytyc Corp. 10. FleetBoston Year's Best Company of year Highest Market Value Fastest Growth Biggest Stock Gain Comeback of the Year Highest Sales Contents Overall performance Banking Biotech Growth   1. ACT Manuf.   2. Provant Inc.   3. Analog Devices   4. Sapient Corp.   5. Foilmark Inc. Bulls and Bears   Bulls   1. J. Jill Group   2. Inverness Medical   3. Reebok Intl.   4. Bostonfed Bancorp   5. John Hancock   Bears   1. Aztec Tech.   2. Engage Inc.   3. CMGI Inc.   4. Telaxis Comm.   5. NaviSite Inc. Employment IPOs Profitability Sales The Globe 100 Market value 100 Sales 100 Return on equity 100 Growth 50 Highest leveraged Top employers Most productive Industry summary Biggest profits Biggest losses The Bulls The Bears Top profit margins Debt-free companies Street's darlings Street's wallflowers 2000 Mass. IPOs Recoveries Nose Dives All the charts for this year's Globe 100    | 2000 Globe 100 | Search the Globe: Today Yesterday

1. AZTEC TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS INC. Down elevator plunging fast 5/22/2001     BEARS & BULLS Old economy companies led Bay State Bulls The shining lights of the local investment world were companies that sell sneakers, blood tests, clothes for middle-age women, and life insurance. Continued THE BULLS 1. J. Jill Group 2. Inverness Medical Tech. 3. Reebok Intl. 4. Bostonfed Bancorp 5. John Hancock Financial THE BEARS 1. Aztec Tech. Partners 2. Engage Inc. 3. CMGI Inc. 4. Telaxis Communications 5. NaviSite Inc. The Bulls The Bears All the charts ould Aztec Technology Partners, of Braintree, be the poster child for the collapse of the new economy? As a technology consultant, Aztec's expertise spanned the breadth of emerging technology: Internet, intranet, extranet, Web, wireless, mobile. Whatever it is you wanted to do to give your company an advantage in the Internet age, Aztec or one of its subsidiaries could help you do it. Trouble is, Aztec saddled itself with a heap of debt acquiring an array of companies, and it wasn't able to make any money offering this broad array of services. Last year, Aztec lost $40 million on revenue of $291 million. In the first quarter, the company lost $4.8 million on revenue of $42.7 million. In the 12 months ended March 31, Aztec's shares plummeted from $7.96 to 12.5 cents, a loss of 98.4 percent. It was the largest percentage loss among publicly traded companies in Massachusetts, putting Aztec at the top of The Globe 100's list of bears. Efforts to turn the company around have failed to produce the desired results. First, Aztec said it would sell noncore businesses to raise cash. But the market for those businesses had already headed south, and the company later said that rather than sell at ''depressed values,'' it would instead hold on to those businesses and try to grow them. It took its biggest e-solutions provider, PCSI, and gave it a snappy name, Blueflame. But efforts to spin Blueflame off into a separate company were also derailed by the sinking Internet market. A planned IPO never materialized. Meanwhile, Aztec's stock-price decline prompted the Nasdaq Stock Market to take steps to delist the company. Aztec pleaded its case in March before Nasdaq's Listing Qualifications Panel, but is still awaiting a final answer. Aztec's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission suggest its troubles aren't over. A $51 million bank loan matured on April 30, and Aztec is negotiating with lenders in an effort to extend it. Aztec's former parent, US Office Products, has filed for protection from creditors in Bankruptcy Court, and Aztec says it may be liable for the other company's debts. The bottom line? The company's independent auditors warned in its most recent annual report that Aztec may not be able to continue as a going concern. JEFFREY KRASNER

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