13 S&P 500 Stocks Just Made New 52-Week Highs
Today’s list of market leaders is a study in contrasts, mixing defensive giants with cyclical resource plays.
Strength in the S&P 500 is concentrated in two areas today. As of Thursday, 13 S&P 500 stocks are at their 52-week highs, with 7 names from Health Care and 4 from Energy.
The largest company on the list is Coca-Cola (KO), with a market value of about $389.3 billion. The question this mix raises is whether the market is rewarding steady growth or a commodity cycle. The names below show both stories are in play.
The Biggest Names On The List
- 4 S&P 500 Stocks Just Touched 52-Week Lows
- Stocks At 52-Week Lows: Thursday’s Full List
- S&P 500 Movers | Winners: NDSN, COIN, DE | Losers: MRNA, WMT, ISRG
- The 52-Week-High List: 23 Small Cap Names On Thursday
- 15 Mid Cap Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Thursday
- The 52-Week-High List: 8 Large Cap Names On Thursday
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 13 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KO | $389.33 Bil | 0.2% | 3.5% | 10.1% | 32.7% |
| COP | $165.11 Bil | 3.3% | 9.1% | 14.3% | 48.4% |
| EOG | $80.97 Bil | 1.8% | 7.6% | 5.7% | 34.2% |
| TRGP | $64.92 Bil | 1.7% | 13.3% | 6.8% | 92.0% |
| BDX | $52.65 Bil | 0.0% | 3.1% | 22.5% | 23.5% |
| A | $44.08 Bil | 0.6% | 4.7% | 17.1% | 31.2% |
| IQV | $43.12 Bil | 2.7% | 6.0% | 29.0% | 33.1% |
| LH | $27.39 Bil | 0.7% | 3.2% | 18.2% | 22.0% |
| NDSN | $18.68 Bil | 8.0% | 8.0% | 14.8% | 55.9% |
| APA | $15.71 Bil | 2.2% | 11.0% | 22.7% | 127.0% |
Are these new highs backed by business growth?
Not always. Within the Energy sector, for instance, the fundamentals vary. EOG Resources (EOG) is on the list after its revenue grew 17.3% over the last twelve months, generating a 35.4% operating margin.
By contrast, Targa Resources (TRGP) also reached a new high even as its revenue declined 2.0% over the last twelve months. A new high can mean very different things about the underlying business.
So is a 52-week high a buy signal?
A list of stocks at their strongest price of the last year is a powerful screen for what is working in the market. But a price is not a verdict on a company’s quality or future.
The disciplined move is to treat the list as a starting point. The key question is always whether the business fundamentals can support, and continue to build on, the new 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.
One more pattern worth noticing: 7 of the 13 names are Health Care stocks. When a whole group is making new highs together, a healthcare ETF like XLV is one way to own the group’s strength without betting on which single name leads it from here.
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.