Small Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs: Wednesday’s Full List
A small group of companies is trading at its strongest price of the past year, but the business results behind the new highs vary widely.
Avnet (AVT), with a market value of about $8.3 billion, is the largest name on today’s 52-week-high list. As of Wednesday, September 23, there are 7 Small Cap US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe trading at their 52-week highs. The Information Technology sector is the most represented group with 3 names. With such a small list, the question is what separates a stock at a high price from a business earning that price.
Every Name On The List
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVT | $8.31 Bil | 3.0% | 9.1% | 17.7% | 93.3% |
| S | $8.12 Bil | 1.0% | 4.0% | 15.8% | 25.5% |
| BATRA | $3.73 Bil | 0.6% | 3.8% | 1.3% | 26.9% |
| ATRC | $2.92 Bil | 1.9% | 4.9% | 21.7% | 59.8% |
| DBRG | $2.9 Bil | 0.1% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 30.2% |
| IOSP | $2.38 Bil | 0.5% | 3.9% | 2.0% | 24.9% |
| CNXN | $2.23 Bil | 2.0% | 1.7% | 15.5% | 42.1% |
This screen covers US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe. Small Cap here means a market value between $2 billion and $10 billion, the upper figure excluded.
Is every new high built on the same foundation?
Consider two different paths to a new high. DigitalBridge (DBRG) trades at 8.4 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 284.8% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 35.9%. In contrast, AtriCure (ATRC) had the strongest one-month run on the list, up 21.7%. It trades at 276.5 times trailing earnings (on trailing earnings that include at least one loss quarter, so the multiple is not comparable to a clean-year multiple), and its revenue grew 13.9% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 2.3%.
A high price is a starting point, not a conclusion.
A list of stocks at their highest price of the year is a useful screen for strength. Price strength can persist. But a high is a price, not a verdict on the underlying business. The disciplined next step is to check whether the company’s growth and margins justify the new valuation. The numbers tell the story.
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.
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 what separates a run that lasts from one that tops is usually 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 S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and the Russell 2000. Let the highs point; let the discipline decide.