Large Cap Stocks At 52-Week Highs: Tuesday’s Full List
A short list of new highs shows a heavy concentration in one part of the market while the broader index is flat.
As of Tuesday, September 29, there are 6 Large Cap US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe trading at their 52-week highs. The largest company on the list is CrowdStrike (CRWD), which has gained 20.3% over the last month, a period where the S&P 500 has returned -0.4%.
The list is notably concentrated, with Health Care (4 names) representing most of the group. With such a small number of companies hitting new highs against a flat market, the question is whether their business results justify the price strength.
The Complete 52-Week-High List
The table below lists all 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRWD | $266.66 Bil | 1.3% | 5.1% | 20.3% | 118.3% |
| TMO | $252.14 Bil | 0.1% | 3.2% | 9.3% | 46.9% |
| MRNA | $80.98 Bil | 3.1% | 11.4% | 47.4% | 730.8% |
| NTRA | $59.39 Bil | 0.7% | 6.0% | 27.1% | 154.4% |
| WAT | $43.53 Bil | 0.1% | 4.1% | 6.9% | 52.0% |
| NTAP | $41.63 Bil | 2.3% | 8.4% | 11.8% | 77.5% |
This screen covers US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe. Large Cap here means a market value above $40 billion.
But does the business growth match the price run?
Not always. The strongest one-month run belongs to Moderna (MRNA), up 47.4%. Yet looking at its business over a longer window, its revenue declined 27.7% over the last twelve months.
In contrast, Waters (WAT) shows a different picture. The company trades at 262.0 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 52.5% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 8.2%.
So how should an investor use this list?
A 52-week high is a sign of strength, and strong stocks often continue to run. But a price is not a verdict. It is a starting point for research, not a finish line.
The disciplined move is to treat the list as a set of ideas to investigate. The key is to look past the price and determine whether the underlying business performance earns its current 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: 4 of the 6 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.
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.