The 52-Week-High List: 23 Small Cap Names On Thursday
A list of new highs raises an old question about whether price is keeping pace with performance.
Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (AMLX) has gained 124.1% over the last month. It leads a list of 23 Small Cap stocks trading at 52-week highs on Thursday, in a screen that only considers companies with a market value above $2 billion. With the S&P 500 returning +2.0% over the last month, the concentration of strength is notable: by sector, the list is led by Health Care (8 names) and Energy (8 names).
The central question is what kind of strength this is. Below are the 10 largest of these names.
The Ten Largest At New Highs
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The table below shows the 10 largest of the 23 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHRD | $8.44 Bil | 1.6% | 11.7% | 9.3% | 54.0% |
| TXG | $8.19 Bil | 2.7% | 9.8% | 35.7% | 376.3% |
| SSRM | $7.57 Bil | 4.1% | 15.8% | 31.3% | 129.1% |
| SM | $7.49 Bil | 4.2% | 16.1% | 13.4% | 52.4% |
| ACA | $7.12 Bil | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 50.1% |
| PAGP | $5.31 Bil | 2.7% | 5.1% | 3.9% | 53.5% |
| TDW | $4.78 Bil | 2.0% | 5.4% | 25.2% | 70.5% |
| CGAU | $4.69 Bil | 3.9% | 10.9% | 40.8% | 237.7% |
| CRGY | $4.53 Bil | 2.8% | 17.2% | 22.6% | 56.2% |
| AMLX | $4.38 Bil | 2.7% | 76.4% | 124.1% | 407.2% |
Does the business performance justify the run?
Consider two different stories near the top of the list. SSR Mining (SSRM) is up 31.3% over the last month. Over the last twelve months, its revenue grew 48.4% and its operating margin is 42.3%.
In contrast, 10x Genomics (TXG) has gained 35.7% over the last month. The company’s revenue declined 4.3% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin is -14.9%.
So what is a 52-week high telling you?
Strength can persist, and a stock at its high is often there for a reason. But a price is not a verdict on a business. A 52-week-high list is best used as a starting point for research, not a finish line. The disciplined move is to check whether the underlying business earns its new valuation.
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 the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. Let the highs point; let the discipline decide.