Large Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs: Wednesday’s Full List
While a key market index is down, a small group of large companies is trading at new highs, dominated by a single part of the economy.
While the S&P 500 has returned -1.4% over the last month, a small group of large companies is trading at its strongest price of the past year. As of Wednesday, September 9, 7 Large Cap stocks with a market value above $40 billion reached a 52-week high. The list is almost entirely a story of one part of the market: 6 of the 7 names are in the Energy sector.
The central question is whether the business fundamentals justify these new price levels. Here are the names.
The Full List, Largest First
The table below lists all 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVX | $421.18 Bil | 1.9% | 1.3% | 10.7% | 44.3% |
| DELL | $347.38 Bil | 0.3% | 25.9% | 16.9% | 340.7% |
| MPC | $115.44 Bil | 0.4% | 4.3% | 25.0% | 124.1% |
| VLO | $114.35 Bil | 1.6% | 7.4% | 23.5% | 152.4% |
| PSX | $104.56 Bil | 0.6% | 3.5% | 21.6% | 106.2% |
| SU | $81.37 Bil | 1.7% | 0.7% | 10.7% | 76.8% |
| CVE | $62.24 Bil | 0.8% | 1.0% | 13.2% | 115.0% |
Has the business kept pace with the stock price?
Dell Technologies (DELL) is the only name on the list from the Information Technology sector. Its stock has gained 16.9% over the last month, a significant run for a company with a market value of about $347.4 billion. The business has also expanded. Over the last twelve months, its revenue grew 49.0% and its operating margin is 9.6%. The company now trades at 30.3 times trailing earnings.
Is a 52-week high a buy signal or a warning?
A list of stocks at their highest price of the past year is a useful screen for strength. Strong price action can persist. But a price is just a price, not a final verdict on a company’s value. The disciplined next step is always to look past the ticker and check if the underlying business performance earns the new valuation.
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: 6 of the 7 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.
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.