5 Mid Cap Stocks Just Made New 52-Week Highs
A small list of new highs shows a striking concentration in a single part of the market.
As of Tuesday, September 29, there are 5 Mid Cap US and Canada-listed stocks in the Trefis coverage universe trading at their 52-week highs. The largest company on the list is West Pharmaceutical Services (WST), with a market value of about $26.7 billion. Every name on today’s short list comes from the Health Care sector, a notable cluster while the S&P 500 has returned -0.4% over the last month. The question is whether the business results underneath these strong stock prices are as uniform as their industry.
The Complete 52-Week-High List
The table below lists all 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WST | $26.67 Bil | 0.3% | 1.5% | 11.6% | 44.5% |
| RVTY | $17.05 Bil | 1.2% | 6.6% | 18.6% | 82.2% |
| TXG | $11.7 Bil | 1.7% | 11.6% | 46.3% | 668.3% |
| TWST | $11.62 Bil | 3.6% | 13.1% | 31.7% | 591.7% |
| RGEN | $10.98 Bil | 0.2% | 4.2% | 10.4% | 54.9% |
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.
A new high can mask a shrinking business.
The strongest one-month run belongs to 10x Genomics (TXG), which gained 46.3%. Yet its revenue declined 4.3% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was -14.9%. In contrast, West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) gained 11.6% over the last month. That company trades at 47.2 times trailing earnings, and its revenue grew 12.4% over the last twelve months, and its operating margin was 21.7%.
A high price is a question, not an answer.
A list of stocks at their highest price of the past year is a good screen for strength. Strong price action can persist. But a price is not a verdict on a company, and a new high is no guarantee that the business has earned the level. The disciplined next step is to look at the numbers, just as a low price invites a look at what might be broken.
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.
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.