25 Mid Cap Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Wednesday
A small group of stocks is hitting new highs while the broader market stalls, but not all strength is created equal.
Lithia Motors (LAD) has run up 46.7% over the last month, leading a small but notable group of stocks to new highs. As of Wednesday, 25 Mid Cap names are at their strongest price of the past year, even as the S&P 500 has returned -1.6% over the same period. This raises a critical question: is this real strength, or just a handful of outliers? The full list is below.
The 10 Largest, By Market Cap
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 25 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXPE | $37.1 Bil | 2.9% | 16.5% | 14.7% | 63.9% |
| KHC | $32.7 Bil | 1.2% | 6.4% | 14.2% | 4.3% |
| EXR | $32.2 Bil | 0.4% | 5.4% | 3.1% | 7.9% |
| CPAY | $26.5 Bil | 2.2% | 9.4% | 17.1% | 17.8% |
| BURL | $23.3 Bil | 0.3% | 4.8% | 18.1% | 28.9% |
| ROKU | $21.4 Bil | 1.0% | 1.6% | 6.4% | 55.2% |
| MGA | $19.2 Bil | 0.1% | 2.2% | 6.7% | 68.6% |
| BBY | $19.0 Bil | 0.8% | 3.5% | 16.1% | 40.4% |
| PFGC | $18.2 Bil | 1.0% | 4.7% | 3.6% | 17.3% |
| HST | $17.6 Bil | 0.3% | 4.2% | 6.4% | 68.5% |
Are these new highs earned by the underlying business?
Consider the two largest companies on the list. Expedia (EXPE) is hitting its high while its revenue grew 10.0% over the last twelve months on a 16.1% operating margin. The stock trades at 24.9 times trailing earnings.
In contrast, Kraft Heinz (KHC) reached its own 52-week high even as its revenue declined 1.7% over the last twelve months. While its operating margin is 18.4%, the shrinking top-line presents a different picture than Expedia’s.
So how should an investor use this list?
A 52-week high is a sign that a stock is working. But a price is not a verdict. The disciplined approach is to treat the list as a screen for names with positive market sentiment, and then to ask if the business fundamentals justify the new level. The real work begins after the screen runs.
A new high tells you what the market already believes. The harder question is which of these runs management itself is underwriting. Our Guidance Momentum screen tracks exactly that: stocks where the company raised its own forward numbers.
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.