13 S&P 500 Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Thursday
A short list of stocks at their highest prices of the year is heavily concentrated in one part of the market.
As of Thursday, September 24, there are 13 S&P 500 stocks trading at their 52-week highs. This is a narrow list, especially when the broader S&P 500 has returned just +0.5% over the last month. The largest company making a new high is Meta Platforms (META), which has gained 36.5% in that same time.
The list is also concentrated, with the Health Care sector accounting for 9 of the 13 names. With such a tight group reaching new highs, the question is whether the underlying business fundamentals justify the price action.
The Biggest Names On The List
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| META | $1,977.41 Bil | 4.5% | 14.1% | 36.5% | 3.3% |
| AMD | $1,026.95 Bil | 2.4% | 15.4% | 31.3% | 291.1% |
| TMO | $251.68 Bil | 2.0% | 3.0% | 8.1% | 44.9% |
| HPE | $84.8 Bil | 1.9% | 4.1% | 19.2% | 161.8% |
| MRNA | $77.54 Bil | 7.0% | 23.2% | 22.7% | 655.4% |
| WBD | $77.44 Bil | 0.3% | 9.2% | 6.7% | 57.7% |
| A | $48.74 Bil | 4.5% | 10.6% | 11.7% | 38.3% |
| IQV | $45.68 Bil | 2.7% | 2.1% | 6.0% | 47.5% |
| WAT | $42.26 Bil | 2.3% | 0.1% | 3.8% | 43.8% |
| ILMN | $41.36 Bil | 7.3% | 11.7% | 21.7% | 175.6% |
Do the largest tech names on the list earn their prices?
Two of the largest companies at new highs show very different profiles. Meta Platforms (META) trades at 29.0 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 27.7% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 38.1%.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which gained 31.3% over the last month, presents a different picture. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) trades at 159.6 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 39.5% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 15.7%.
A 52-week high is a starting point for research, not a conclusion.
Stocks trading at their highest price of the year are showing strength, and that strength can often persist. But a price is not a verdict on a company’s quality or future prospects.
The disciplined move is to treat the high as a signal to look deeper. An investor’s work begins here, asking whether the business’s growth and profitability can support its 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: 9 of the 13 names are Health Care stocks. When a whole group is making new highs together, a health care ETF like XLV, which holds 5 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.