12 S&P 500 Stocks Just Made New 52-Week Highs
A short list of new highs features some of the market’s largest companies, raising questions about valuation.
By industry, the list is led by Life Sciences Tools & Services (an industry in the Health Care sector, 3 names), Biotechnology (an industry in the Health Care sector, 2 names), and Semiconductors (an industry in the Information Technology sector, 1 name). As of Tuesday, September 22, there are 12 S&P 500 stocks trading at their 52-week highs.
The largest company on the list is Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), with a market value of about $1018.0 billion. Its stock has gained 31.8% over the last month, while the S&P 500 has returned +1.3%. This raises a critical question: does the underlying business justify such a sharp price move?
The Ten Largest At New Highs
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 12 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD | $1,017.99 Bil | 1.3% | 23.7% | 31.8% | 296.3% |
| CRWD | $253.79 Bil | 0.3% | 3.1% | 30.3% | 99.0% |
| DE | $189.91 Bil | 2.7% | 2.8% | 8.6% | 51.6% |
| WBD | $77.41 Bil | 0.1% | 10.0% | 8.0% | 59.5% |
| MRNA | $72.66 Bil | 5.6% | 27.0% | 25.8% | 623.3% |
| A | $47.17 Bil | 3.3% | 11.3% | 5.2% | 33.5% |
| ILMN | $37.37 Bil | 3.6% | 11.3% | 12.8% | 140.8% |
| BIIB | $33.29 Bil | 2.9% | 4.3% | 4.0% | 58.1% |
| WST | $26.27 Bil | 2.6% | 1.7% | 5.1% | 46.1% |
| FFIV | $25.72 Bil | 0.7% | 5.2% | 17.9% | 37.9% |
The largest names show a sharp split between price and profit.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) trades at 158.2 times trailing earnings. Its revenue grew 39.5% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 15.7%. The stock’s one-month gain is notable.
Compare that to Deere (DE), which has also reached a new high. Deere (DE) trades at 38.9 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 8.0% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 17.6%. Its stock gained 8.6% over the last month.
A new high is a starting point for questions, not an answer.
A list of stocks at their highest price of the past year is a useful screen for strength. But a price is not a verdict on a business. A stock can reach a new high for many reasons, and the level may or may not be sustainable.
The disciplined move is to treat the list as a prompt. It is a signal to check whether the company’s financial results, growth, and margins can actually earn the market’s new, higher 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.
One more pattern worth noticing: 6 of the 12 names are Health Care stocks. When a whole group is making new highs together, a health care ETF like XLV, which holds 3 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 S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and the Russell 2000. Admire the list; own the system.