Wall street was kind to last year's Forbes 200 Best Small Companies in America (Nov. 1, 1999). The stocks are up an average 35% since, trumping the Russell 2000 small cap index, which was up 23%. Investing in small growth companies, though, is a speculative affair. The median return was only 7%, meaning that half the companies on our list dramatically underperformed the index. The performance of last year's list was, in fact, heavily skewed in favor of a couple of big winners. For example, Elantec Semiconductor's stock rocketed 1,055% from $8.63 to $99.63. The hot M&A market also helped: Twenty-three companies were acquired or merged.
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