Amgen (AMGN) Moves 3.5% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

Amgen (AMGN) shares soared 3.5% in the last trading session to close at $285.41. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 6.7% loss over the past four weeks.

Amgen’s shares climbed likely after the advisory committee to the European Medicine Agency recommended expanding Uplizna’s use to treat adult patients with active immunoglobulin G4-related disease, a rare autoimmune condition with no approved therapies in the EU. Phase III data showed Uplizna significantly reduced disease flares and enabled more patients to achieve steroid-free remission compared with placebo, highlighting its potential as a much-needed alternative to current treatments.

This world's largest biotech drugmaker is expected to post quarterly earnings of $5.01 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -10.2%. Revenues are expected to be $8.93 billion, up 5% 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 Amgen, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.6% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. And a negative trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't usually translate into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on AMGN 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 >>>>

Amgen is a member of the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. One other stock in the same industry, Dynavax Technologies (DVAX), finished the last trading session 0.6% lower at $9.69. DVAX has returned -11% over the past month.

For Dynavax Technologies, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.14. This represents a change of +16.7% from what the company reported a year ago. Dynavax Technologies 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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