nLight (LASR) Moves 7.0% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

nLight LASR shares rallied 7% in the last trading session to close at $20.7. 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 1.7% loss over the past four weeks.

nLight is benefiting from strong growth in its Aerospace and Defense segment, driven by record defense revenue, increased deliveries for programs like HELSI-2, and expanding opportunities in directed energy and laser sensing markets.

This laser maker is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.09 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +10%. Revenues are expected to be $55.07 million, up 9% 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 nLight, 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 LASR 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 >>>>

nLight is part of the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry. Lattice Semiconductor LSCC, another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 1.2% lower at $53.07. LSCC has returned 9.7% in the past month.

For Lattice, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.24. This represents a change of +4.4% from what the company reported a year ago. Lattice 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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