5 Local Firms Make Magazine’s List of Best Small U.S. Companies

Five Orange County companies are listed among the nation’s 100 best small companies, according to an annual ranking by Businessweek magazine.

The Orange County companies that made the list are Quiksilver, a Costa Mesa men’s sportswear maker, which ranked 41st; GB Foods, Anaheim franchiser of the Green Burrito Mexican fast-food restaurant chain, 43rd; Rainbow Technologies, an Irvine software company, 49th; Wet Seal, an Irvine women’s sportswear retailer, 56th, and Bridgford Foods, an Anaheim food-products company, 98th.

The Businessweek ranking, which appears in the publication’s May 27 issue, is based on a formula that takes into account the companies’ three-year sales growth, earnings growth and return on invested capital. To qualify, a company must have publicly traded stock, have annual sales of less than $150 million, a current market value greater than $1 million and a current stock price greater than $1 per share.