The 52-Week-High List: 32 S&P 500 Names On Friday
Strength is concentrated in a few key industries, but the valuations underneath tell very different stories.
Strength on Friday was clustered in a few specific industries, with Aerospace & Defense, Rail Transportation, and Property & Casualty Insurance each placing 3 names on the 52-week-high list. In total, 32 S&P 500 stocks reached their strongest price of the past year. The largest of them is JPMorgan Chase (JPM), with a market value of about $959.4 billion.
The names making new highs are not a uniform group, spanning a wide range of valuations. This raises a central question for any investor looking at strength: is the price just catching up to the business, or has it run ahead? The list below offers a starting point.
The Ten Largest At New Highs
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 32 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPM | $959.4 Bil | 0.9% | 3.6% | 6.4% | 21.3% |
| ABBV | $459.1 Bil | 0.9% | 1.9% | 11.2% | 40.3% |
| BAC | $450.2 Bil | 1.3% | 1.3% | 7.5% | 31.7% |
| MRK | $324.0 Bil | 0.5% | 2.8% | 8.7% | 61.3% |
| RTX | $286.8 Bil | 1.7% | 10.0% | 15.0% | 38.1% |
| UNP | $182.2 Bil | 1.0% | 1.8% | 18.2% | 36.1% |
| WELL | $176.4 Bil | 2.0% | 3.6% | 13.8% | 58.4% |
| BMY | $126.5 Bil | 0.9% | 2.2% | 14.2% | 32.9% |
| HWM | $116.0 Bil | 0.8% | 6.2% | 4.8% | 55.5% |
| GD | $104.5 Bil | 1.3% | 4.9% | 12.8% | 24.2% |
But is every new high built on the same foundation?
Consider the contrast between two of the largest companies on the list. AbbVie (ABBV) is at a new high while trading at 126.3 times trailing earnings. The company’s revenue grew 9.5% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin is 33.2%.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) also reached a new peak, but it trades at a much lower 16.3 times trailing earnings. Its revenue grew 8.2% over the same period. Both stocks show strength, but their current valuations tell starkly different stories about how the market is pricing their business.
So what is the disciplined way to treat this list?
A list of stocks at their highs is a map of what is working in the market. Strength often persists, as it can reflect a healthy underlying business that is executing well.
But a high is a price, not a verdict. It is a signal to do more work, not a conclusion. The disciplined move is to look past the price and ask whether the business fundamentals, revenue growth, margins, and earnings, truly earn the new level. A new high is the beginning of a question, not the end of one.
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.
New Highs Grow Positions Faster Than Plans Do
A new high is real progress, and it is also how winners grow into outsized positions. How much damage any single position could do to your net worth is a question with a precise answer. The Trefis Wealth team computes it for investors professionally, with the same rules-based systematic discipline that runs our High Quality Portfolio. Request a free vulnerability audit of your biggest positions.