The 52-Week-High List: 32 Small Cap Names On Monday
A fresh list of stocks at their yearly highs reveals a sharp divide in the underlying business performance being rewarded.
As of Monday, August 24, 32 Small Cap stocks with a market value above $2 billion are trading at their 52-week highs. The largest name on the list is Match (MTCH), with a market value of about $9.7 billion, part of a group where the Health Care sector is the most represented with 10 names.
But the list itself shows a sharp divergence in the fundamentals behind these new highs. The central question is what kind of business performance the market is currently rewarding. Below are the 10 largest names on today’s list.
The Biggest Names On The List
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 32 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTCH | $9.74 Bil | 2.1% | 12.1% | 10.1% | 16.1% |
| KMX | $8.92 Bil | 1.1% | 7.3% | 7.7% | 8.5% |
| CRNX | $8.83 Bil | 0.1% | 0.0% | 1.3% | 188.4% |
| ETSY | $8.38 Bil | 7.4% | 11.0% | 8.0% | 38.3% |
| SSRM | $7.94 Bil | 2.2% | 17.8% | 43.9% | 128.4% |
| SRRK | $7.41 Bil | 3.0% | 11.8% | 22.1% | 68.3% |
| WEX | $7.05 Bil | 1.7% | 7.6% | 15.4% | 19.8% |
| RLI | $6.12 Bil | 1.9% | 6.7% | 7.6% | 5.8% |
| SXT | $5.81 Bil | 2.1% | 3.0% | 8.8% | 22.1% |
| NIQ | $5.66 Bil | 2.1% | 11.2% | 78.4% | 8.7% |
Does a new high always signal a thriving business?
Not necessarily. A 52-week high can mask very different operational stories. For CarMax (KMX), the new high comes as its revenue declined 1.8% over the last twelve months, with an operating margin of -1.8%. The stock trades at 36.1 times trailing earnings (on trailing earnings that include at least one loss quarter, so the multiple is not comparable to a clean-year multiple).
In contrast, SSR Mining (SSRM) shows a price high backed by strong recent results. Its revenue grew 48.4% over the last twelve months, generating an operating margin of 42.3%. Its multiple is 33.8 times trailing earnings (on trailing earnings that include at least one loss quarter, so the multiple is not comparable to a clean-year multiple).
How should a disciplined investor treat a 52-week-high list?
A list of stocks at their strongest price of the past year is a useful screen for strength. But a price is just a price, not a final judgment on a company’s value. The disciplined next step is always to look at the business underneath the stock chart.
As the names on today’s list show, the fundamentals can vary widely. The work begins, not ends, with seeing a stock at its high. The key is to determine whether the business itself earns the price.
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.
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.