27 S&P 500 Stocks Just Made New 52-Week Highs
As of Tuesday, October 20, there are 27 S&P 500 stocks trading at their 52-week highs.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B), with a market value of about $1.16 trillion, is the largest company on the list; its stock is up 7.5% over the past month and up 9.6% over the past year. Health Care contributed the most names, 12 of the 27. For context, the S&P 500 is down 0.6% over the past month, including dividends.
The Biggest Names On The List
The table below shows the 10 largest of the 27 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D Return |
1W Return |
1M Return |
1Y Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRK-B | $1,163.1 Bil | 1.4% | 3.7% | 7.5% | 9.6% |
| LLY | $1,145.5 Bil | 3.5% | 10.0% | 10.2% | 60.9% |
| V | $764.7 Bil | 0.9% | 2.7% | 9.9% | 19.9% |
| MA | $547.2 Bil | 0.7% | 2.6% | 9.5% | 11.3% |
| ABBV | $511.4 Bil | 2.3% | 6.0% | 10.0% | 29.7% |
| CVX | $444.6 Bil | 0.6% | 3.7% | 10.8% | 53.3% |
| PFE | $171.6 Bil | 2.3% | 6.1% | 8.5% | 31.5% |
| MCK | $122.3 Bil | 1.9% | 7.1% | 16.2% | 31.6% |
| ADP | $116.7 Bil | 2.0% | 6.1% | 8.5% | 7.1% |
| ELV | $95.5 Bil | 2.3% | 3.5% | 7.5% | 28.7% |
Strong Prices, But How Strong Are The Businesses?
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) trades at 13.6 times trailing earnings and grew revenue 10.4% over the last twelve months.
Eli Lilly (LLY) trades at 42.9 times trailing earnings, grew revenue 49.6% over the last twelve months and earned an operating margin of 49.7%.
Across the list, one-month moves range from +4.7% for MetLife (MET) to +24.9% for Hasbro (HAS).
The median stock on the list is up 31.6% over the past year.
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: 12 of the 27 names are Health Care stocks. When a whole group is making new highs together, a health care ETF like XLV, which holds 6 of the 6 largest of them, is one way to own part of the group’s strength without betting on which single name leads it from here.
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.