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:

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.