11 Stocks Hit 52-Week Lows On Thursday
A real estate giant leads a short list of companies hitting yearly lows, raising questions about the difference between price and performance.
VICI Properties (VICI), a company with a market value of about $27.7 billion, is at its weakest price in a year. It is the largest of 11 stocks from the Russell 3000 hitting their 52-week lows on Thursday. The presence of a company this size on such a short list, especially as the S&P 500 gained +1.7% over the last month, raises a critical question: when does a new low reflect a broken stock versus a business that is still performing?
The full list of names follows below.
Every Name On The List
Here are all 11 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VICI | $27.7 Bil | -0.6% | -1.3% | -3.8% | -16.4% |
| GGG | $12.1 Bil | -0.1% | -2.2% | -1.3% | -15.9% |
| QXO | $10.9 Bil | -0.5% | -11.9% | -6.2% | -32.7% |
| POST | $4.1 Bil | -1.4% | -6.9% | -5.9% | -20.6% |
| TDS | $4.0 Bil | -0.2% | -6.4% | -11.4% | -2.7% |
| EQPT | $3.3 Bil | -3.5% | -19.0% | -19.9% | |
| CNXC | $1.3 Bil | -1.9% | -14.1% | -23.4% | -64.1% |
| PRCT | $1.1 Bil | -0.2% | -15.9% | -30.3% | -65.9% |
| AIAI | $0.8 Bil | -11.2% | -22.4% | -12.9% | |
| PFLT | $0.7 Bil | -1.0% | -6.0% | -10.7% | -23.6% |
| NMFC | $0.7 Bil | -2.4% | -4.5% | -8.9% | -25.8% |
A new low does not always mean a shrinking business.
VICI Properties (VICI) is a prime example. While its stock is at a low, its revenue grew 4.1% over the last twelve months and it trades at 8.9 times trailing earnings. The second-largest name on the list, Graco (GGG), shows a similar pattern. Its stock is at a new low, yet its revenue grew 4.6% over the last twelve months, and it trades at 23.5 times trailing earnings.
The price is a signal, not the full story.
A 52-week-low list is a starting point for research, nothing more. A low can mark genuine business damage, or it can mark a solid business that has simply been marked down by the market. The disciplined move is to ignore the price chart at first and check the health of the underlying company. A falling price is only interesting if the business itself is sound.
If any of these names tempt you, resist buying a price alone. Our Buy the Dip screen asks the follow-up question that matters: which marked-down stocks still have the growth and cash generation to recover.
Notice how many of these names sit in one corner of the market: 5 of the 11 are Industrials stocks. When a whole group is marked down together, an industrial machinery & supplies & components ETF like IYJ is one way to own an eventual recovery without betting on which single name survives it best.
The Low List Is A Symptom. Own The Discipline Instead
Every stock on this list got here the same way: the market lost confidence faster than the business could defend itself. Some will earn that confidence back and some will not, and telling them apart name by name is unforgiving work.
That work is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio systematizes: about 30 quality businesses screened for the cash flow and balance-sheet strength that let a company fight through a bad year, sized and rebalanced by rules. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines all major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. Read the list; own the discipline.