Media and publishing power-house Forbes, Inc. recently released their list of 100 of America’s Best Small Companies in 2010. To be considered for the list, companies had to boast being publicly traded for at least a year, have stock prices above $5 per share, and realize sales between $5 million and $1 billion. Forbes then ranked companies based on earnings and revenue growth as well as return on equity in the past year and over a five year period.

Of their top 20 small companies for 2010, three were Massachusetts based:

#18 Hittite Microwave Corporation

Industry: Semi conductors
Market Cap: $1.51B (Nasdaq: HITT)
Sales: $200M
Headquarters: Chelmsford, MA
Employees: 349
About: Hittite Microwave Corporation was founded in 1985. This global company engineers integrated circuits, modules, and subsystems for radio frequency, microwave, and millimeterwave applications. Hittite directly sells its products for use in applications and end products to a wide range of industries, including cellular infrastructure, broadband, automotive, military, and space.
More: Website

#16 iRobot Corporation

Industry: Appliances
Market Cap: $495M (Nasdaq: IRBT)
Sales: $373M
Headquarters: Bedford, MA
Employees: 613
About: iRobot Corporation was founded in 1990. The company designs behavior-based, artificially intelligent robots. iRobot’s products are designed to navigate through complex and dynamic real-world situations, from maneuvering around furniture to searching abandoned buildings. iRobot sells their robots to consumer, government, and industrial customers
More: Website | Twitter | Facebook

#12 UFP Technologies, Inc.

Industry: Containers and packaging
Market Cap: $76 million (Nasdaq: UFPT)
Sales: $115 million
Headquarters: Georgetown, MA
Employees: 603
About: UFP Technologies was founded in 1963. The company has 12 North American manufacturing locations where they fabricate specialty foams, plastics, and natural fiber materials into packaging, components, and end products. Their products serve automotive, computers, electronics, medical, scientific, aerospace, defense, consumer, and industrial markets.
More: Website | Twitter | Facebook

Are there other Massachusetts-based companies that fit Forbes’ requirements that should have made the list?