Where The Buying Ran Strongest: 20 Mid Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs
Strength at the top is not spread evenly, with two industries showing a clear concentration of names at their yearly highs.
On Thursday, 20 Mid Cap US and Canada-listed stocks with market values above $10 billion reached their 52-week highs. This occurred as the S&P 500 returned +5.7% over the last month. The largest company on the list is Illumina (ILMN), valued at about $34.8 billion. The names are heavily concentrated, with Information Technology (7 names) and Health Care (6 names) accounting for most of the list. What kind of business performance is earning these new highs?
The Biggest Names On The List
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 20 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
- Where The Selling Ran Deepest: 9 S&P 500 Stocks At 52-Week Lows
- 18 Stocks Hit 52-Week Lows On Thursday
- Where The Buying Ran Strongest: 13 S&P 500 Stocks At 52-Week Highs
- 25 Small Cap Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Thursday
- Large Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs: Thursday’s Full List
- S&P 500 Movers | Winners: CRM, CRWD, VEEV | Losers: HRL, CASY, TPR
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ILMN | $34.84 Bil | 1.3% | 6.8% | 16.9% | 130.6% |
| WAT | $34.6 Bil | 1.7% | 4.1% | 11.0% | 42.3% |
| OKTA | $30.45 Bil | 28.6% | 28.9% | 26.3% | 88.8% |
| SN | $27.27 Bil | 2.3% | 7.2% | 21.1% | 62.7% |
| ROIV | $26.96 Bil | 2.3% | 2.0% | 14.3% | 217.4% |
| EXPD | $25.47 Bil | 0.3% | 2.3% | 12.1% | 58.5% |
| RBRK | $21.8 Bil | 11.3% | 9.7% | 48.8% | 25.7% |
| GEN | $18.39 Bil | 2.9% | 8.3% | 10.9% | 1.1% |
| NWSA | $17.28 Bil | 0.7% | 5.2% | 8.2% | 5.7% |
| DT | $15.9 Bil | 3.5% | 8.6% | 21.8% | 11.1% |
Has this stock’s price outrun its business?
Waters (WAT) stands out for its extremes. The company is trading at its highest price of the past year, but it does so at 249.0 times trailing earnings. That multiple carries a note: it is based on trailing earnings that include at least one loss quarter, so the multiple is not comparable to a clean-year multiple. Over the last twelve months, its revenue grew 52.5%. For contrast, the list’s largest name, Illumina (ILMN), trades at 41.7 times trailing earnings, while its revenue grew 4.9% over the last twelve months.
A 52-week high is a starting point for work.
A list of stocks at their strongest prices of the year is a useful screen for strength. These are often businesses with positive stories that the market is rewarding. But a high price is not a verdict on the business, it is just a price. The disciplined move is not to chase the number, but to use it as a prompt. It is a signal to check whether the company’s growth and margins truly earn the 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.