Where The Buying Ran Strongest: 5 S&P 500 Stocks At 52-Week Highs
A short list of new highs shows a striking concentration in one part of the market.
Just 5 S&P 500 stocks are trading at their 52-week highs as of Tuesday, a narrow list in a market where the S&P 500 has returned -0.9% over the last month. The largest company on the list is Dell Technologies (DELL), but the dominant pattern is a cluster: 4 of the 5 names are from the Energy sector. This raises a key question for any investor looking at strength: is this a broad advance or a narrow one? The data follows.
Tuesday’s Full 52-Week-High List
Here are all 5 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DELL | $346.49 Bil | 1.9% | 17.1% | 17.7% | 333.1% |
| MPC | $114.96 Bil | 2.3% | 6.5% | 33.8% | 124.3% |
| VLO | $112.56 Bil | 3.3% | 6.7% | 28.3% | 149.4% |
| PSX | $103.9 Bil | 1.6% | 5.1% | 27.8% | 102.8% |
| OKE | $61.52 Bil | 2.2% | 1.6% | 12.8% | 41.5% |
Has this run outpaced the business?
Marathon Petroleum (MPC) has the strongest one-month run on the list, up 33.8% over the last month. The company’s stock is trading at 13.4 times trailing earnings. For comparison, its revenue grew 15.0% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin is 7.5% over that same trailing period.
A high price is a question, not a conclusion.
A 52-week-high list is a useful screen for strength, and strong stocks often continue to show strength. But a price is not a verdict on a company. The disciplined next step is always to check the fundamentals. A stock at its highest price of the past year invites one simple question: does the business itself earn this new level?
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 5 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.