13 Small Cap Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Thursday
A small list of stocks at new highs contains some very large price moves.
The Life Sciences Tools & Services industry placed 3 names on today’s 52-week-high list, followed by Movies & Entertainment with 2 names. As of Thursday, September 24, there are 13 Small Cap US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe trading at their 52-week highs. The largest is RingCentral (RNG), with a market value of about $6.7 billion.
While the S&P 500 has returned +0.5% over the last month, some of these runs are far larger. The stock of GRAIL (GRAL) has gained 51.7% over the last month alone. This raises the question of whether business fundamentals support these new price levels.
The 10 Largest, By Market Cap
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 13 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RNG | $6.71 Bil | 0.7% | 6.7% | 21.7% | 162.7% |
| GRAL | $5.4 Bil | 15.4% | 56.6% | 51.7% | 166.5% |
| IOVA | $4.86 Bil | 6.0% | 7.8% | 28.0% | 421.7% |
| ADPT | $4.73 Bil | 6.0% | 3.6% | 12.6% | 112.3% |
| BATRA | $3.77 Bil | 1.3% | 5.3% | 1.8% | 28.9% |
| CDNA | $3.16 Bil | 13.0% | 13.1% | 20.8% | 294.2% |
| IMAX | $3.03 Bil | 3.5% | 6.4% | 2.3% | 69.1% |
| ATRC | $2.96 Bil | 1.4% | 2.8% | 24.8% | 65.9% |
| IOSP | $2.39 Bil | 0.3% | 4.0% | 2.7% | 25.1% |
| LTC | $2.25 Bil | 1.9% | 0.1% | 7.0% | 29.9% |
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.
Growth is present, but profitability is not a given.
The list includes companies with very different financial profiles. RingCentral (RNG) trades at 60.8 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 5.2% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 6.7%. In contrast, Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA) saw its revenue grow 34.5% over the last twelve months, but its operating margin was -91.1%. A new high can mean very different things for the underlying business.
A new high is a starting point for new questions.
A stock trading at its strongest price of the past year is a sign of market approval. But a price is not a verdict on the business itself. The disciplined move for an investor is to treat the new high as the beginning of the work, not the end. The task is to determine if the company’s operating results can earn the market’s new 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 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.