17 Small Cap Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Tuesday
A small group of stocks is hitting new highs, but the business stories behind the prices diverge sharply.
While the S&P 500 has returned -0.9% over the last month, one name on today’s 52-week-high list, CVR Energy (CVI), is up 48.5% over the same period. As of Tuesday, 17 Small Cap stocks with market values above $2 billion are trading at their strongest price of the past year.
This is not a uniform group showing broad strength. The list is a mix of companies whose prices appear grounded in business results and others whose runs seem disconnected from them. The key question is which is which. Below are the 10 largest of these names.
The Ten Largest At New Highs
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 17 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OSCR | $9.98 Bil | 2.4% | 10.2% | 18.3% | 69.9% |
| PBF | $9.09 Bil | 3.3% | 5.2% | 24.9% | 176.3% |
| TXG | $8.53 Bil | 4.7% | 5.0% | 26.1% | 369.9% |
| ACA | $7.15 Bil | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 49.4% |
| ANF | $6.81 Bil | 1.2% | 5.8% | 34.5% | 58.8% |
| HESM | $5.26 Bil | 2.7% | 1.9% | 2.9% | 9.4% |
| CLMT | $4.72 Bil | 1.5% | 8.4% | 36.6% | 202.2% |
| DK | $4.64 Bil | 5.3% | 1.8% | 29.4% | 147.0% |
| CVI | $4.64 Bil | 3.6% | 10.2% | 48.5% | 47.7% |
| GNW | $3.97 Bil | 0.7% | 4.8% | 7.5% | 21.6% |
A new high does not always signal a healthy business.
Consider 10x Genomics (TXG), which has gained 26.1% over the last month. Yet its revenue declined 4.3% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin is -14.9%. This is a very different profile from PBF Energy (PBF), another name at its high after a 24.9% one-month gain. PBF Energy’s revenue grew 13.5% over the last twelve months, its operating margin is 2.6%, and it trades at 6.7 times trailing earnings.
Strength is a signal, not a conclusion.
A list of stocks at 52-week highs is a useful screen for names with positive price action. Strength can persist. But a high price is a reflection of market opinion, not a final verdict on a company’s quality. The disciplined next step is always to look at the underlying business to see if its growth and profitability can earn the market’s new, higher valuation.
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.
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.