Large Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs: Monday’s Full List
A short list of new highs is split between a cluster of energy giants and a fast-rising software name.
Atlassian (TEAM) has gained 92.2% over the last month, a run that places it on today’s list of stocks trading at their 52-week highs. As of Monday, August 31, it is one of just 6 names on the list, which screens for US and Canada-listed companies with a market value above $40 billion.
The list is split between two distinct groups: Information Technology and a heavy concentration in the Energy sector, which accounts for 4 of the 6 names. This raises a question about what kind of business is earning its highest price of the year. The data follows.
The Complete 52-Week-High List
The table below lists all 6 names this screen surfaced, largest first, with one-day, one-week, one-month, and one-year returns:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MPC | $110.13 Bil | 1.2% | 3.0% | 18.3% | 111.7% |
| VLO | $106.96 Bil | 1.9% | 3.7% | 14.7% | 142.5% |
| PSX | $99.13 Bil | 1.1% | 1.9% | 17.1% | 91.1% |
| SLB | $90.09 Bil | 4.8% | 11.3% | 21.2% | 69.2% |
| CRWD | $58.61 Bil | 5.8% | 21.1% | 21.0% | 109.0% |
| TEAM | $50.67 Bil | 2.0% | 13.3% | 92.2% | 9.8% |
The list’s energy names pair new highs with positive margins.
The three largest companies on the list are all from the Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing industry. Marathon Petroleum (MPC), with a market value of about $110.1 billion, has seen its revenue grow 15.0% over the last twelve months, with an operating margin of 7.5%.
Valero Energy (VLO) shows a similar profile, as its revenue grew 12.6% over the last twelve months with a 7.2% operating margin. In contrast, CrowdStrike (CRWD), from the Information Technology sector, posted revenue growth of 24.3% over the last twelve months but an operating margin of -2.2%.
A 52-week high is a starting point for diligence, not a conclusion.
A list of stocks at their highest price of the past year is a useful screen for strength. Price often follows business performance, and names arriving here frequently have working strategies.
But a high is just a price, not a verdict on the business or its valuation. The disciplined next step is to ask whether the underlying fundamentals, the growth, the margins, the earnings, justify the new level. The price is a fact; the value is a judgment.
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.
One more pattern worth noticing: 4 of the 6 names are Energy stocks. When a whole group is making new highs together, an energy ETF like XLE, which holds 4 of these names, is one way to own part of the group’s strength without betting on which single name leads it from here.
Chasing Highs Is A Reflex. Owning Strength Is A System
A 52-week-high list is seductive: everything on it has been going right. But buying a stock because it is at its high is buying a price, and prices revert; what persists is the quality underneath the run.
The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio is built to own that quality before and after it makes headlines: roughly 30 businesses selected for consistent cash generation, strong margins, and resilient balance sheets, sized and rebalanced with 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. Admire the list; own the system.