The 52-Week-High List: 18 S&P 500 Names On Wednesday
A small group of large companies finds new strength even as the broader market falters.
As of Wednesday, 18 S&P 500 stocks are trading at their 52-week highs. This strength is narrow, coming as the S&P 500 has returned -0.8% over the last month. The list is dominated by just two sectors: Health Care, with 9 names, and Energy, with 6 names.
The largest company making a new high is Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), but the central question is what kind of business performance is earning these prices across the group. A look at the 10 largest of these names follows.
The 10 Largest, By Market Cap
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 18 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JNJ | $662.54 Bil | 1.5% | 1.9% | 8.5% | 58.0% |
| CVX | $417.18 Bil | 0.3% | 5.8% | 12.2% | 36.0% |
| DE | $188.63 Bil | 3.3% | 10.1% | 13.1% | 48.3% |
| COP | $166.49 Bil | 0.7% | 5.0% | 17.1% | 43.0% |
| PFE | $165.38 Bil | 1.6% | 2.5% | 14.2% | 24.3% |
| VRTX | $141.25 Bil | 1.7% | 1.7% | 16.3% | 38.8% |
| MPC | $111.84 Bil | 1.0% | 6.8% | 24.1% | 118.4% |
| VLO | $107.63 Bil | 1.1% | 5.2% | 18.6% | 142.3% |
| PSX | $102.68 Bil | 1.6% | 5.7% | 25.0% | 97.0% |
| REGN | $87.59 Bil | 3.4% | 4.6% | 12.1% | 48.2% |
Is every new high supported by new growth?
Pfizer (PFE) is a name to examine closely. The stock is trading at its highest price of the past year, yet its revenue declined 0.2% over the last twelve months. The company’s valuation is 38.2 times trailing earnings, a multiple calculated on trailing earnings that include at least one loss quarter, so the multiple is not comparable to a clean-year multiple.
In contrast, Chevron (CVX) also reached a new high after its stock gained 12.2% over the last month, while its revenue grew 11.2% over the last twelve months.
A 52-week high is the start of the work, not the end.
A list of stocks at their yearly highs is a useful screen for strength. But a price is not a verdict on a business. The disciplined next step is to check whether the underlying fundamentals, from revenue growth to operating margins, justify the new valuation. Strength often persists, but only a look at the numbers can tell you if a business is earning its new high.
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: 9 of the 18 names are Health Care stocks. When a whole group is making new highs together, a healthcare ETF like XLV, which holds 6 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.