5 S&P 500 Stocks Just Made New 52-Week Highs
A short list of market highs shows a clear split between two very different industries.
Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), a company with a market value of about $240.6 billion, is the largest name on today’s list. As of Wednesday, September 16, there are 5 S&P 500 stocks trading at their 52-week highs. This is happening while the S&P 500 has returned -2.4% over the last month.
The names are concentrated in just two areas of the economy: Health Care (3 names) and Energy (2 names). The valuation differences between them, however, are stark. How does one name on a short list command such a premium?
Wednesday’s Full 52-Week-High List
Here are all 5 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TMO | $240.57 Bil | 1.1% | 7.1% | 10.8% | 37.1% |
| MPC | $119.62 Bil | 0.7% | 3.6% | 15.9% | 133.9% |
| VLO | $118.56 Bil | 1.6% | 3.7% | 16.2% | 161.4% |
| DGX | $27.43 Bil | 0.0% | 4.9% | 4.9% | 39.2% |
| RVTY | $16.26 Bil | 4.0% | 17.7% | 25.4% | 74.0% |
What does a 68 times multiple buy?
The strongest one-month run on the list belongs to Revvity (RVTY), up 25.4% over the last month. The stock’s valuation is also the highest. Revvity (RVTY) trades at 68.5 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 4.1% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 12.3%.
A new high is a question, not an answer.
A list of stocks at their highest price of the past year is a useful screen for strength. The market is rewarding these businesses for one reason or another. But a price is not a verdict. The disciplined next step is to ask whether the business fundamentals can support the new, higher valuation. Strength often persists, but it first has to be earned.
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.
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.