Vir Biotechnology, Inc. VIR shares soared 11.9% in the last trading session to close at $5.93. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 2.2% loss over the past four weeks.
The sudden rise in the stock price can be attributed to the positive investor mindset regarding the potential of Vir Biotechnology’s only late-stage pipeline candidate, tobevibart. It is being developed in combination with Alnylam’s elebsiran, in a registrational phase III ECLIPSE 1 study for treating chronic hepatitis delta (CHD). VIR is also gearing up to initiate a phase III ECLIPSE 2 study to assess the efficacy and safety of switching to tobevibart and elebsiran in individuals with CHD who have not achieved viral suppression with bulevirtide treatment.
This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.74 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +27.5%. Revenues are expected to be $7.05 million, up 128.8% 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 Vir Biotechnology, 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 VIR going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
Vir Biotechnology belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Another stock from the same industry, Opus Genetics, Inc. IRD, closed the last trading session 4.7% higher at $1.11. Over the past month, IRD has returned 3.9%.
For Opus Genetics, Inc., the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.25. This represents a change of +16.7% from what the company reported a year ago. Opus Genetics, Inc. currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
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Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (VIR): Free Stock Analysis Report Opus Genetics, Inc. (IRD): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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