5 Large Cap Stocks Just Made New 52-Week Highs
A short list of companies trading at their highest price of the year is dominated by a single part of the market.
AbbVie (ABBV), with a market value of about $471.0 billion, is the largest name making a new high. As of Monday, September 28, there are 5 Large Cap US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe trading at their 52-week highs.
This small group shows a clear concentration. The list is heavily weighted toward Health Care, with 4 of the 5 names. That strength appears while the S&P 500 has returned -0.5% over the last month. Do the underlying business results justify these prices?
The Full List, Largest First
The table below lists all 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABBV | $471.05 Bil | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3.1% | 25.6% |
| TMO | $251.76 Bil | 0.5% | 3.0% | 7.7% | 48.3% |
| WBD | $77.59 Bil | 0.1% | 0.3% | 7.0% | 56.2% |
| A | $49.41 Bil | 1.4% | 8.2% | 11.1% | 44.9% |
| WAT | $43.5 Bil | 2.2% | 4.5% | 5.1% | 53.9% |
This screen covers US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe. Large Cap here means a market value above $40 billion.
Does every high signal a healthy business?
Not always. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is at its highest price of the year, yet its revenue declined 6.1% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 6.1%.
In contrast, Waters (WAT) shows extreme figures. It trades at 261.8 times trailing earnings, a multiple that is not comparable to a clean-year multiple because its trailing earnings include at least one loss quarter. Its revenue grew 52.5% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 8.2%.
A high price is a question, not an answer.
A list of stocks at their strongest prices of the year is a useful starting point. Strength can persist, and these names have clearly found buyers. But a price is not a verdict on a company’s quality.
The disciplined next step is to look at the business. A new high invites the reader to check if revenue growth and margins can support the current 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.
One more pattern worth noticing: 4 of the 5 names are Health Care stocks. When a whole group is making new highs together, a health care ETF like XLV, 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.
New Highs Fade. Discipline Compounds
Some of the names on this list will keep setting highs for years, and some are at the top of their run right now. Sorting one from the other, name by name, every day, is the work most investors never keep up with.
That sorting is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio does systematically: about 30 quality businesses screened for the fundamentals that sustain a run, held with rules instead of excitement. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and the Russell 2000. Use the high list for ideas; use the portfolio for the compounding.