The US stock market has been ebullient this year.
Bellwether technology stock index NASDAQ Composite Index and the S&P 500 Index have both been scaling new all-time highs as investors price in a potential interest rate cut.
Investors who are looking at attractive growth stocks to park their money in can filter out those that are hitting new 52-week highs.
They can use this level as a starting point to dig further into the business and its prospects.
Here are five US stocks that are touching their 52-week highs that you may wish to include in your buy watchlist.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)
Amazon is the largest e-commerce retailer in the world and offers cloud services and streaming television as part of its offerings.
Shares of Amazon hit their 52-week high of US$187.34 recently and are up nearly 24% year-to-date (YTD).
The e-commerce behemoth reported a sparkling set of earnings for 2023.
Net sales rose 11.8% year on year to US$574.8 billion while operating profit tripled year on year to US$36.9 billion.
Net profit clocked in at US$30.4 billion, a sharp reversal from the net loss of US$2.7 billion a year ago.
The company also generated a positive free cash flow of US$36.8 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023, bringing 2023’s total free cash flow to US$32.2 billion.
Amazon announced several promising business developments that should help to grow its business further.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched the AWS Deadline Cloud, a fully managed service that helps customers set up, deploy, and scale rendering projects in minutes.
The company is also working with insurer AXA to jointly develop and build the AXA Digital Commercial Platform to enable next-generation risk management.
Domino’s Pizza (NYSE: DPZ)
Domino’s Pizza is the largest pizza company in the world with more than 20,500 stores in more than 90 markets as of the end of 2023.
Shares of the pizza chain have climbed more than 20% YTD to hit their 52-week high of US$508.44 recently.
The quick-service restaurant chain reported a mixed set of earnings for 2023.
Revenue dipped by 1.3% year on year to US$4.5 billion.
Operating profit, however, improved by 6.7% year on year to US$819.5 million while net profit climbed 14.8% year on year to US$519.1 million.
The pizza company’s free cash flow generation jumped 25% year on year to US$485.5 million for 2023.
Its quarterly dividend also increased by 25% year on year to US$1.51 per share.
Management has come up with new long-term guidance for 2024 to 2028.
Sales are expected to grow by 4% to 8% per year while the number of stores will increase by between 5% to 7% per year.
Cummins (NYSE: CMI)
Cummins is a company that designs, manufactures, distributes and services a broad portfolio of power solutions such as diesel, natural gas, and electric powertrains and their components.
Cummins’ share price shot up 25% YTD and recently hit a 52-week high of US$304.20.
The company reported a stellar set of earnings for 2023.
Revenue jumped 21.3% year on year to US$34.1 billion but operating profit fell by 40% year on year to US$1.8 billion.
Cummins had to settle a one-off US$2.04 billion regulatory charge to the US government that negatively impacted its earnings.
Excluding this, operating profit would have risen by nearly 30% year on year to US$3.8 billion while net profit would have increased by 29% year on year to US$2.8 billion.
The company saw its free cash flow generation nearly triple year on year from US$1 billion to US$2.8 billion.
Terex Corp (NYSE: TEX)
Terex is a manufacturer of materials processing machinery and aerial work platforms.
The company designs, builds, and supports products used in maintenance, manufacturing, energy, recycling, minerals and materials management, and construction applications.
Terex’s share price has gone up 13% YTD and the manufacturing company touched its 52-week high of US$65.89 recently.
For 2023, Terex announced a 16.6% year on year increase in revenue to US$5.2 billion with operating profit jumping 51.5% year on year to US$636.5 million.
Net profit soared 72.7% year on year to US$518 million.
The company’s free cash flow more than doubled year on year to US$332.1 million.
The quarterly dividend stood at US$0.17, up an impressive 31% after management raised it twice during 2023.
Terex is seeing strong customer demand with its backlog at US$3.4 billion, around three times its historical average.
Management believes that Terex is well-positioned to benefit from megatrends such as digitalisation, electrification, and infrastructure investments.
Parsons (NYSE: PSN)
Parsons is a technology provider in the national security and global infrastructure markets.
The company’s share price recently touched a 52-week high of US$85.44 and is up more than 28% YTD.
Revenue for 2023 improved by nearly 30% year on year to US$5.4 billion while operating profit climbed 55.3% year on year to US$288.4 million.
Net profit surged 66.7% year on year to US$161.1 million.
Parson’s free cash flow generation improved by 77.5% year on year to US$367.3 million.
The company was awarded total contracts of close to US$6 billion in 2023, a sharp increase from the US$4.3 billion booked in 2022.
Parson’s backlog stood at US$8.6 billion as at end-2023, slightly higher than the US$8.2 billion in the prior year.
The company is guiding for 2024’s revenue to increase by around 8% year on year at the mid-point.
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Disclosure: Royston Yang does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.
