9 Mid Cap Stocks Hit 52-Week Highs On Wednesday
A short list of new highs is dominated by one name’s outsized gain.
As of Wednesday, September 23, there are 9 Mid Cap US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe trading at their 52-week highs. The largest is Illumina (ILMN), with a market value of about $38.6 billion.
The list is small, and it arrives in a quiet tape. The S&P 500 has returned +0.8% over the last month. Yet the strongest one-month run on the list belongs to Okta (OKTA), which is up 56.8%. The sharp contrast raises a key question: what kind of business fundamentals are attached to such a price move?
Every Name On The List
Here are all 9 names, sorted by market capitalization, with returns over four windows:
| Tickers | Market Cap |
1D % Chg |
1W % Chg |
1M % Chg |
1Y % Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ILMN | $38.56 Bil | 3.2% | 11.6% | 14.4% | 151.6% |
| OKTA | $36.17 Bil | 4.4% | 9.2% | 56.8% | 122.3% |
| BIIB | $33.61 Bil | 1.0% | 5.3% | 4.3% | 61.8% |
| WST | $26.61 Bil | 1.3% | 3.8% | 6.4% | 49.5% |
| FFIV | $25.87 Bil | 0.6% | 7.6% | 20.3% | 38.1% |
| RBRK | $23.54 Bil | 3.3% | 10.1% | 17.9% | 43.6% |
| DT | $17.1 Bil | 2.3% | 6.0% | 19.3% | 20.4% |
| SWKS | $13.75 Bil | 1.7% | 6.8% | 36.8% | 13.8% |
| QRVO | $10.53 Bil | 1.0% | 4.9% | 25.4% | 24.2% |
This screen covers US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe. Mid Cap here means a market value between $10 billion and $40 billion, the upper figure excluded.
Okta’s valuation reflects its recent price gain.
The stock’s run has produced a high multiple. Okta (OKTA) trades at 120.9 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 11.2% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 7.7%. For comparison, the largest name on the list, Illumina (ILMN), trades at 46.7 times trailing earnings. Its revenue grew 4.9% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 19.9%.
A new high is a starting point for research.
A stock trading at its highest price of the past year is a sign of strength, and that strength can persist. But a price is not a verdict on the business itself. A disciplined investor treats a 52-week high as a signal to do the work. The real question is whether the company’s growth and margins can earn its 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.
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.