Shares of 20 public companies based in North Carolina registered gains of more than 20% last year, reflecting a broad-based surge in the valuations of many businesses.

Leading the pack was CommScope, which gained 248% after selling a division for $10.5 billion and benefiting from strong sales to datacenter companies. It won’t be on future BNC of N.C. stocks because CEO Chuck Treadway moved the headquarters from Claremont in Catawba County to a Dallas suburb late last year. Frank Drendel started CommScope in Hickory in 1976.

The second-best performer was Morrisville-based drug developer Liquidia, which gained 193% because of its promising therapy to treat pulmonary hypertension.

Other top stocks included four Charlotte-area companies: lithium miner Albemarle (65% gain), defense contractor Curtiss-Wright (55%), blueharbor bank (42%) and Nucor (40%.)

Mooresville-based Blueharbor may be best known for being founded and chaired by Kelley Earnhardt Miller, the sister of racing legend Dale Earnhardt. It was among many financial services companies to report strong years. Charlotte’s LendingTree gained 37%, followed by Mount Olive-based Southern Bank (28%), Asheville’s HomeTrust Bank (28%); Ally Financial of Charlotte (26%); Bank of America (25%) and Newton-based Peoples Bank (23%).

Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 13% last year, while the Nasdaq soared 20% and the S&P 500 Index rose 16%.

Not all companies shared in the gains, of course. Thirteen companies in North Carolina lost at least 20% of their value during the year. Pharma company Humacyte tanked 81%, while clean-energy innovator NET Power lost 78%. Both are based in Durham.

Other troubled stocks included window-and-door maker Jeld-Wen, which declined 70%; theme-park operator Six Flags (-68%) and hemp-products seller cbdMD, (-55%). Each is based in Charlotte.

Among other widely held companies, Truist gained 13%; Duke Energy rose 9%; Lowe’s declined 2% and Honeywell dipped 14%.

The year was also marked by takeovers of two middle-market Charlotte companies by PE groups. TPG acquired payments company AvidXchange for $2.2 billion in October, while Patient Square Capital bought health care company Premier for $2.6 billion in November. Charlotte’s Brighthouse Financial and Sealed Air are also expected to be acquired by PE firms early this year in multibillion acquisitions.

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