Centrus Energy (LEU) Surges 8.8%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?

Centrus Energy Corp. (LEU) shares soared 8.8% in the last trading session to close at $153.88. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 18.7% loss over the past four weeks.

Centrus Energy recently a definitive multi-year contract to supply High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) to Antares Nuclear, with deliveries expected to begin before the end of the decade. Binding orders from Antares and other customers are supporting Centrus’ expansion toward commercial-scale HALEU production.

Centrus is leading the U.S. effort to establish domestic HALEU production at its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, OH, the only licensed HALEU production facility in the Western world. Last year, the company launched a multibillion-dollar expansion program aimed at significantly increasing production of both HALEU and Low-Enriched Uranium.

Industry sentiment toward nuclear energy has also strengthened following a landmark agreement between Google and Constellation Energy to bring 890 megawatts of new nuclear capacity to the PJM grid under a long-term power arrangement.

Meanwhile, Vistra secured a conditional loan commitment of up to $4.2 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy to upgrade and modernize three nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The development further underscored the growing policy and financial support for nuclear energy and helped drive a broader rally across nuclear-related equities.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.40 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +110.5%. Revenues are expected to be $61.23 million, down 18.3% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For Centrus Energy, 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 LEU going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

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

Centrus Energy belongs to the Zacks Mining - Non Ferrous industry. Another stock from the same industry, Lundin Mining (LUNMF), closed the last trading session 0.4% lower at $24.64. Over the past month, LUNMF has returned -3.4%.

For Lundin, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.3. This represents a change of +66.7% from what the company reported a year ago. Lundin currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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

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