The 52-Week-High List: 34 S&P 500 Names On Friday
A narrow group of stocks is showing strength even as the broader market falters.
Strength in the market is concentrated in insurance. Life & Health Insurance leads the 52-week-high list with 5 names, on a day that sees 34 S&P 500 stocks at new peaks. The largest is Apple (AAPL), with a market value of about $4897.1 billion.
These gains stand out against a broader market that has returned -0.9% over the last month. The central question is what kind of business performance is earning these prices. Below is the full list of names at their strongest price of the last year.
The Ten Largest At New Highs
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 34 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | $4,897.1 Bil | 0.1% | 5.8% | 11.5% | 59.4% |
| PM | $300.7 Bil | 1.7% | 6.3% | 5.7% | 9.1% |
| PANW | $287.3 Bil | 1.3% | 10.1% | 28.1% | 86.2% |
| UNP | $178.9 Bil | 0.8% | 5.2% | 12.8% | 33.5% |
| WELL | $170.2 Bil | 0.7% | 5.0% | 13.9% | 56.8% |
| CVS | $136.8 Bil | 0.9% | 3.2% | 6.7% | 74.6% |
| MO | $124.2 Bil | 1.6% | 3.4% | 5.7% | 34.6% |
| UPS | $100.1 Bil | 0.5% | 4.7% | 7.0% | 26.3% |
| VLO | $92.3 Bil | 3.1% | 10.3% | 26.8% | 121.8% |
| MPC | $92.2 Bil | 2.2% | 10.2% | 24.8% | 84.9% |
A high price can mean very different things for the underlying business.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) has gained 28.1% over the last month and trades at 340.9 times trailing earnings. That valuation is attached to a business whose revenue grew 19.5% over the last twelve months, with an operating margin of 9.6%.
Compare that to Philip Morris International (PM), which trades at 27.1 times trailing earnings. Its revenue grew 8.1% over the last twelve months, while its operating margin is 36.8%. Both are at highs, but they represent entirely different investor expectations.
A 52-week high is a starting point for questions, not an answer.
A stock at its strongest price of the last year is a sign of market agreement, and that strength can persist. But a price is not a verdict on the business itself. The disciplined move is to treat this list as a screen, a way to find what is working.
The real work follows: checking whether the revenue growth and margins of the underlying company justify the new level. A high is an opportunity to ask if the business earns it.
Before chasing any name on this list, ask what the company itself expects next. Our Guidance Momentum screen surfaces the stocks whose managements just raised their own outlooks, which is the momentum that tends to have staying power.
Strength Is A Clue. It Is Not A Plan
A stock at its 52-week high has momentum on its side, and momentum is a real force. It is also the most crowded signal in the market, and the difference between a run that lasts and one that tops is always the business underneath.
Checking that business, across thousands of names, is how the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio is assembled: roughly 30 companies that pass the quality screens, rebalanced on 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. Let the highs point; let the discipline decide.