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By Douglas MacMillan

Layoffs, losses, and languishing stock prices. They've all become common in the technology sector as the U.S. economy suffers through its worst financial crisis in decades.

Yet not all tech players have suffered. In fact, some have thrived. This year's ranking of tech's hottest growth companies shows how companies have performed during the latest rough patch relative to their peers. It's a diverse group. While last year's ranking was dominated by chipmakers, this year's list includes computer makers, electronics manufacturers, and two well-known software companies. Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL), the hottest of the hot in 2007, still made the cut this year, but they've given up their top spots to two surprising players.

The Hot Growth ranking is based on a number of factors. Sales growth counts the most, though overall sales, return on equity, and return to shareholders are all incorporated too. The financial information is from the most recently available four quarters, as of Oct. 15, and the stock price returns are from the year ended Oct. 15.

Investors should read with particular care: A strong performance today is no guarantee of success in the future. To help gauge the outlook for the top companies in the ranking, we enlisted the help of Morningstar , the investment research firm. The company's analysts shared their opinions on each stock, with an estimate of the stock's fair value and a brief explanation of their thinking. Each stock is also rated on a one-to-five star scale, with five stars being the most promising buys.

For a look at the top 20 hot growth tech companies, read on.