LOCAL FIRMS PEGGED FOR FAST GROWTH.

Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

Consider them overachievers.

Three local firms have made Business Week's list of fastest-growing U.S. companies, one for the second year running.

Topping the locals on the list, which appears in Business Week's June 1 edition, is THQ Inc., the Calabasas-based video game maker. The company snagged the No. 17 spot with an 84.6 percent increase in sales and 294 percent growth in earnings over the last three years.

THQ's growth has been largely driven by the success of its games based on the World Championship Wrestling franchise. Animated digital versions of Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan are among characters pitted against one another in the games.

While Business Week editors went ga-ga over THQ, the company stands to encounter a less fawning audience June 15 at its annual shareholders meeting. From a 52-week high of more than $36 a share, the issue has slipped to the low-$20 range in recent weeks after THQ lost a bidding contest to keep the WCW license. THQ closed Wednesday at $21.50, up $1.06.

``I can't say (the Business Week ranking) has been reflected hugely in our stock price, but it's nice to get recognized on these sorts of lists for all the fruits of your labor,'' THQ's chief executive, Brian Farrell, said Wednesday.

Newbury Park-based Semtech Corp., ranked No. 30, is the second-highest local company on the Business Week list. Semtech, which makes semiconductors for the military, computer and aerospace industries, appears on the list for the second year in a row after a 52.3 percent increase in sales and 113.3 percent rise in profits since 1995.

Like shares of other computer chip makers, Semtech's have been battered in 1998 by ongoing economic crises in Asia. Semtech shares hit a six-month low of $17.50 last week despite recent ``buy'' ratings from six analysts who follow the company. Semtech shares closed unchanged at $18.125 Wednesday.

Rounding out the locals on Business Week's list is Simi Valley-based Eltron International at No. 78. The maker of bar-code printers and scanners, as well as machines that make plastic identification cards, has experienced an 84.2 percent increase in sales over the last three years and 53.2 percent growth in earnings.

Eltron last month was also ranked 10th on Forbes ASAP magazine's list of 100 most dynamic U.S. companies. Eltron shares closed off 12.5 cents Wednesday at $22.375.

FLEET THREE

Among the 100 firms to land a spot on Business Week's fastest-growing companies list are three local high-tech players. Their percentage growth:

Company Sales (x) Earnings (x)

17. THQ Inc. (THQI) 84.6 294.3

30. Semtech (SMTC) 52.3 113.3

78. Eltron Intl (ELTN) 84.2 53.2

(x) 3-year growth rate

Source: Business Week

CAPTION(S):

Box

BOX: FLEET THREE (see text)