Where The Buying Ran Strongest: 13 S&P 500 Stocks At 52-Week Highs
A small list of stocks at new highs contains some very large price moves, raising questions about the quality of the underlying growth.
CrowdStrike (CRWD) has gained 27.1% over the last month, a run that outpaces the S&P 500’s own +5.7% return. It is one of just 13 S&P 500 stocks trading at its highest price of the past year as of Thursday, August 27.
This is a narrow list, but it contains some sharp moves. Does a new high price always signal a healthy business underneath? The ten largest names making new highs are below.
The 10 Largest, By Market Cap
- Where The Selling Ran Deepest: 9 S&P 500 Stocks At 52-Week Lows
- 18 Stocks Hit 52-Week Lows On Thursday
- 25 Small Cap Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Thursday
- Where The Buying Ran Strongest: 20 Mid Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs
- Large Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs: Thursday’s Full List
- S&P 500 Movers | Winners: CRM, CRWD, VEEV | Losers: HRL, CASY, TPR
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTNT | $127.65 Bil | 9.7% | 14.6% | 12.8% | 122.5% |
| CRWD | $57.84 Bil | 20.5% | 19.8% | 27.1% | 118.4% |
| XYZ | $50.71 Bil | 2.1% | 6.0% | 3.2% | 7.7% |
| IQV | $44.18 Bil | 0.3% | 2.5% | 6.0% | 39.7% |
| WAT | $34.6 Bil | 1.7% | 4.1% | 11.0% | 42.3% |
| EXPD | $25.47 Bil | 0.3% | 2.3% | 12.1% | 58.5% |
| NWS | $19.57 Bil | 0.2% | 4.6% | 8.2% | 3.7% |
| GEN | $18.39 Bil | 2.9% | 8.3% | 10.9% | 1.1% |
| NWSA | $17.28 Bil | 0.7% | 5.2% | 8.2% | 5.7% |
| IVZ | $15.03 Bil | 1.0% | 6.2% | 19.5% | 56.7% |
Which new highs are backed by new growth?
The list shows different kinds of strength. Fortinet (FTNT), the largest company making a new high, saw its revenue grow 18.8% over the last twelve months with an operating margin of 32.4%.
By contrast, CrowdStrike (CRWD) grew revenue 24.3% over the last twelve months but did so with an operating margin of -2.2%. Elsewhere, Waters (WAT) posted revenue growth of 52.5% but trades at 249.0 times trailing earnings (on trailing earnings that include at least one loss quarter, so the multiple is not comparable to a clean-year multiple).
A 52-week high is a starting point, not a conclusion.
Stocks trading at their highest price of the year are, by definition, working. Strength can signal more strength to come.
But a price is just a price. It is not a verdict on the business itself. The disciplined next step is not to chase the tape, but to ask whether the underlying operations, growth, and profitability justify the new, higher 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.
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.