Novavax NVAX shares soared 20.1% in the last trading session to close at $12.56. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 2.4% gain over the past four weeks.
Shares surged as renewed investor interest in vaccine stocks sparked a broad sector rally. The immediate trigger was reports of a pneumonia-related death and quarantines in Russia, which fueled speculation around infectious-disease risks. At the same time, encouraging late-stage results on Vaxcyte’s investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) further boosted sentiment across the vaccine sector.
Novavax’s gains were also supported by an improving underlying story, including approvals for its updated COVID-19 vaccine across key markets and its partnership with Sanofi, which could earn royalties from vaccine sales without bearing the full commercial costs.
This vaccine maker is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.37 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +40.3%. Revenues are expected to be $42.96 million, down 39% 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 Novavax, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 152.3% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on NVAX 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 >>>>
Novavax is part of the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Vertex Pharmaceuticals VRTX, another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 0.2% lower at $503.5. VRTX has returned -7.6% in the past month.
For Vertex, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -4.5% over the past month to $4.86. This represents a change of +1.3% from what the company reported a year ago. Vertex currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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Novavax, Inc. (NVAX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).