Where The Buying Ran Strongest: 8 S&P 500 Stocks At 52-Week Highs
A handful of stocks are showing unusual strength against a flat market, but not all new highs are created equal.
While the S&P 500 has returned -0.7% over the last month, some individual components are sprinting. Baxter International (BAX) is up 25.5% in that same period. On Thursday, 8 S&P 500 stocks are trading at their 52-week highs, a sign of focused strength.
The central question is whether the underlying business fundamentals justify these new price levels. Here are the names making the list.
The Full List, Largest First
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- Where The Buying Ran Strongest: 41 Small Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs
- S&P 500 Stocks At 52-Week Lows: Thursday’s Full List
- 15 Mid Cap Stocks Just Made New 52-Week Highs
The table below lists every stock at its 52-week high, largest first, with one-day, one-week, one-month, and one-year returns:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMY | $132.2 Bil | 2.8% | 5.4% | 13.8% | 45.1% |
| ROST | $80.6 Bil | 0.2% | 8.7% | 18.7% | 82.6% |
| GRMN | $57.3 Bil | 0.9% | 23.9% | 25.3% | 26.4% |
| EA | $52.4 Bil | 0.3% | 0.3% | 2.2% | 42.4% |
| LH | $26.0 Bil | 2.7% | 8.4% | 12.7% | 21.8% |
| IEX | $17.4 Bil | 1.9% | 5.2% | 3.3% | 28.1% |
| SWK | $14.5 Bil | 2.7% | 9.3% | 1.5% | 45.6% |
| BAX | $13.8 Bil | 8.0% | 23.4% | 25.5% | -6.5% |
Is the business performance keeping up with the stock price?
For some, the answer appears to be yes. Garmin (GRMN) has gained 25.3% over the last month, supported by revenue that grew 13.5% over the last twelve months and an operating margin of 27.6%. Ross Stores (ROST) shows a similar pattern, with an 18.7% one-month gain alongside 11.9% revenue growth.
In contrast, Electronic Arts (EA) trades at 59.1 times trailing earnings while its revenue grew just 0.9% over the last year, a notable gap between its price run and its recent business results.
So is a new high a buy signal or a warning?
Neither. A 52-week high is simply a fact about price, not a verdict on the business. While strong performance can persist, a stock at its peak price demands scrutiny. The disciplined approach is to use the new high as a prompt to check the numbers. The key is determining if the company’s growth and profitability can still earn its new, higher valuation.
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.