28 S&P 500 Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Tuesday
A select group of market leaders hits new highs, but the list reveals two very different kinds of strength.
On Tuesday, 28 S&P 500 stocks reached their 52-week highs, a sign of selective strength in a market that has returned just 2.9% over the last month. The list is anchored by size, with JPMorgan Chase (JPM) being the largest company present, its stock having gained 8.2% in the past month.
But a closer look reveals a sharp divergence in valuations, raising a key question: is the market rewarding steady growth at a fair price, or paying up for rapid expansion at any cost? The names below show both kinds of strength.
The Biggest Names On The List
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 28 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPM | $983.4 Bil | 0.6% | 1.3% | 8.2% | 27.8% |
| BAC | $464.4 Bil | 0.2% | 1.7% | 7.6% | 42.1% |
| ANET | $248.8 Bil | 3.3% | 3.9% | 9.2% | 42.2% |
| ETN | $178.3 Bil | 3.2% | 3.5% | 14.3% | 28.0% |
| VRTX | $134.6 Bil | 1.1% | 10.6% | 10.3% | 44.5% |
| ABNB | $110.6 Bil | 0.2% | 23.4% | 26.4% | 52.9% |
| MPC | $99.2 Bil | 5.0% | 7.6% | 13.3% | 113.3% |
| VLO | $96.5 Bil | 2.8% | 4.9% | 9.9% | 148.2% |
| MMM | $95.2 Bil | 0.6% | 0.9% | 16.1% | 21.7% |
| JCI | $94.7 Bil | 2.7% | 0.7% | 7.5% | 48.5% |
Does the underlying business justify the new high?
Arista Networks (ANET) stands out for the sheer velocity of its business expansion. The stock trades at 61.6 times trailing earnings, a steep multiple. Yet that price is supported by revenue that grew 32.6% over the last twelve months. The company also produced an operating margin of 43.1%.
By contrast, a financial giant like JPMorgan Chase (JPM) offers a different picture of strength. It trades at 15.0 times trailing earnings, with its revenue growing 11.0% over the same period. Both are hitting new highs, but they represent two very different paths to the top of the tape.
Is a 52-week high a signal to buy or a warning sign?
A list of stocks at their strongest price of the last year is a map of what is working in the market. Strength can and often does persist. But a new high is simply a price, not a final verdict on a company’s value.
The disciplined approach is to treat this list not as a conclusion, but as a starting point. The essential question is whether the underlying business performance justifies the new, higher valuation. The work begins, it does not end, at a 52-week high.
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 Fade. Discipline Compounds
Some of the names on this list will keep setting highs for years, and some are at the top of their run right now. Sorting one from the other, name by name, every day, is the work most investors never keep up with.
That sorting is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio does systematically: about 30 quality businesses screened for the fundamentals that sustain a run, held with rules instead of excitement. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. Use the high list for ideas; use the portfolio for the compounding.