Valneva (VALN) Soars 17.4%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (VALN) shares ended the last trading session 17.4% higher at $7.32. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 11.3% gain over the past four weeks.

The sharp upsurge in VALN shares can be attributed to positive market sentiment fueled by recent regulatory wins and strong momentum across the biotech sector. Investors piled into the stock after several days of decline, taking advantage of broader enthusiasm sparked by Abivax’s major trial success. Confidence was further boosted by the EMA’s decision to lift age-based restrictions on Valneva’s chikungunya vaccine, signaling growing regulatory support. These factors combined to drive renewed investor optimism and a sharp upward move in the stock.

This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.27 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +27%. Revenues are expected to be $55.89 million, up 36.4% 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 Valneva, 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 VALN 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 >>>>

Valneva is part of the Zacks Medical - Products industry. GE HealthCare Technologies (GEHC), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 1% higher at $77.25. GEHC has returned 6.3% in the past month.

For GE HealthCare, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.91. This represents a change of -9% from what the company reported a year ago. GE HealthCare 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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