Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT) Stock Jumps 5.7%: Will It Continue to Soar?

Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT) shares rallied 5.7% in the last trading session to close at $7.28. This move can be attributable to notable volume with a higher number of shares being traded than in a typical session. This compares to the stock's 9.3% loss over the past four weeks.

Arcturus Therapeutics' stock gained following its strategic collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific to support the phase III development and potential commercialization of ARCT-032, its investigational mRNA therapy for cystic fibrosis. Under the agreement, Thermo Fisher will provide phase III manufacturing and clinical research services, with exclusive commercial manufacturing rights upon regulatory approval.

This pharmaceutical company is expected to post quarterly loss of $1.07 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -214.7%. Revenues are expected to be $2.51 million, down 91.1% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For Arcturus Therapeutics, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on ARCT going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Arcturus Therapeutics is a member of the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. One other stock in the same industry, Alkermes (ALKS), finished the last trading session 5.5% higher at $54.58. ALKS has returned 21% over the past month.

Alkermes' consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.04. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -107.7%. Alkermes currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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