Performance comparisons are always problematic, because they are always far more complicated than they appear. To be meaningful, such comparisons must be ultra specific, which this is not. That said, I would agree that the statement about Fortran is probably misleading. Furthermore that paragraph strikes me as “business-speak” (also known to Neal Stephenson fans as “bullshit”) and all “business-speak” should be ignored. To be fair, it doesn’t appear to be coming from the Julia devs, and they are probably in a difficult position, as “business-speak” is usually a requisite for advertising to business people.