7 S&P 500 Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Friday
A short list of new highs shows strength concentrated in just a few corners of the market.
Marathon Petroleum (MPC) has gained 30.3% over the last month, a period when the S&P 500 returned just +0.2%. It is one of only 7 S&P 500 stocks trading at a 52-week high as of Friday. This narrowness raises a key question: what kind of strength is this? The list below shows it is highly concentrated, with pairs of names from the Energy, Financials, and Information Technology sectors.
Friday’s Full 52-Week-High List
Here are all 7 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DELL | $340.17 Bil | 1.5% | 14.9% | 19.8% | 319.1% |
| BNY | $113.1 Bil | 0.3% | 1.4% | 3.8% | 58.9% |
| MPC | $112.39 Bil | 0.3% | 5.4% | 30.3% | 120.9% |
| VLO | $108.99 Bil | 0.0% | 5.2% | 22.4% | 143.6% |
| STT | $53.64 Bil | 0.2% | 0.5% | 5.1% | 74.7% |
| HPQ | $30.09 Bil | 2.2% | 6.9% | 15.8% | 18.7% |
| BBY | $18.99 Bil | 3.2% | 9.5% | 12.8% | 23.7% |
The list’s energy names pair strong runs with business growth.
Marathon Petroleum (MPC) stands out for its recent price gain. The business behind that run saw its revenue grow 15.0% over the last twelve months, with an operating margin of 7.5%. Its industry peer on the list, Valero Energy (VLO), shows a similar profile: revenue grew 12.6% over the last twelve months, with an operating margin of 7.2%. In contrast, the largest company on the list, Dell Technologies (DELL) with a market value of about $340.2 billion, trades at 40.5 times trailing earnings.
A new high is a starting point for diligence, not a conclusion.
Stocks trading at their highest price of the past year are, by definition, working. Strength often persists. But a 52-week high is a price, not a verdict on the business. The disciplined move is to treat this list as a set of names to investigate, not a simple buy signal. The key question is always whether the underlying business can earn 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, which is the momentum that tends to have staying power.
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 three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. Admire the list; own the system.