26 Small Cap Stocks Just Made New 52-Week Highs
A list of new highs shows a clear concentration in one part of the market.
While the S&P 500 has returned -0.8% over the last month, a different story is unfolding in the small-cap space. On Wednesday, 26 US and Canada-listed stocks with a market value above $2 billion are trading at their 52-week highs. The list is heavily tilted, with the Energy sector alone accounting for 11 of the 26 names.
This concentration raises a critical question: are these new highs built on business expansion, or just price action? The table below shows the 10 largest of these companies.
The 10 Largest, By Market Cap
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- The 52-Week-High List: 15 Mid Cap Names On Wednesday
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 26 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTCH | $9.87 Bil | 1.3% | 0.9% | 2.9% | 17.4% |
| JXN | $9.62 Bil | 3.3% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 45.9% |
| SM | $9.15 Bil | 0.7% | 8.3% | 23.3% | 36.9% |
| PBF | $8.93 Bil | 0.7% | 8.2% | 15.0% | 171.9% |
| NOV | $7.79 Bil | 1.6% | 7.3% | 8.6% | 69.7% |
| RNG | $6.1 Bil | 2.6% | 9.9% | 19.9% | 140.8% |
| RELY | $5.65 Bil | 4.3% | 4.2% | 8.9% | 41.8% |
| INSW | $5.01 Bil | 1.4% | 8.0% | 9.3% | 152.5% |
| TDW | $5.0 Bil | 4.7% | 13.3% | 19.5% | 71.3% |
| PTEN | $5.0 Bil | 2.8% | 12.8% | 31.4% | 139.1% |
A high price does not always follow high growth.
Consider the contrast between two names. SM Energy (SM) has seen its revenue grow 65.9% over the last twelve months, with an operating margin of 32.5%. It trades at 9.2 times trailing earnings (on trailing earnings that include at least one loss quarter, so the multiple is not comparable to a clean-year multiple). Then there is NOV (NOV), also at a new high, but its revenue declined 1.7% over the last twelve months. The stock trades at 82.0 times trailing earnings, a figure that also includes a loss quarter.
A 52-week high is a question, not an answer.
A list of stocks at their strongest price of the past year is a useful screen for strength. These are companies that have found a bid in a difficult market. But a price is not a verdict. The disciplined move is to treat the new high as the start of the work, not the end. The essential task is to determine if the business itself earns the level the stock price has reached.
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.
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.