As S&P 500 hits record highs, one-fifth of its stocks are still in a bear market

The S&P 500 is sitting at record highs, but not every stock is participating in the rally.

Names such as Celgene, American Airlines, Philip Morris, Twitter and Micron Technology, along with 89 other stocks, have each fallen by at least 20 percent from 52-week highs, pushing them past a correction and into bear territory.

One of those stocks, Twitter, may soon break out from the rest, according to Mark Newton, technical analyst at Newton Advisors.

“A lot of it has to do with just the near-term progress,” Newton told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Thursday. “The stock had had a very severe pullback over the last few months and it started to bottom out and then recently just this week the stock has really made new four-week highs.”

Twitter sold off sharply at the end of July into August after reporting a drop in average monthly users. Since its earnings report on July 27, its shares have plummeted 20 percent. From its mid-July high, it has tanked nearly 30 percent.

“The stock had broken out and then pulled back and [is] consolidating so I see the stock getting back to the mid-to-high $30s,” added Newton.

Since its late July sell-off, the shares have held in a range between $30 and $35. They were trading around $44 before its earnings report.

Mark Tepper, president of Strategic Wealth Partners, said a different stock among the rest looks primed for a breakout.

“How can you not love Celgene right now? It’s a monster player in the biotech space with a forward PE of 10 and a PEG ratio of only 0.5 which is just crazy ridiculous,” Tepper said Thursday on “Trading Nation.” “It suggests that it’s severely undervalued.”

Its price-earnings ratio at less than 10 is at a discount to the XLV health-care ETF’s 16 times multiple. Its price/earnings growth, or PEG, ratio, which measures price against valuation, is also below the rest of the sector.

Celgene’s shares are nearly 40 percent lower than a 52-week high set last October. The stock had plummeted last year after announcing it had discontinued a study for one its developmental drugs targeting Crohn’s disease.

“The tide is turning for Celgene who has been unfairly punished since last October and investors have an opportunity to own a terrific company at a steep discount,” added Tepper.

Celgene is down nearly 14 percent so far this year, while the XLV ETF has added 11 percent.

Leave a Reply

*