Illumina (ILMN) Surges 3.3%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?

Illumina ILMN shares rallied 3.3% in the last trading session to close at $134.78. 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 9.4% gain over the past four weeks.

Illumina witnessed a strong price rise on investors’ optimism following a collaboration with MyOme, a leading genomics innovation and risk modeling company. Illumina will invest into MyOme to advance the latter’s strategic roadmap including Proactive Health (MPH) Trial. 

This genetic testing tools company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.22 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +41.9%. Revenues are expected to be $1.1 billion, down 0.3% 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 Illumina, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised marginally 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 ILMN going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Illumina is a member of the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. One other stock in the same industry, Regeneron REGN, finished the last trading session 2.6% higher at $767.96. REGN has returned 1.6% over the past month.

Regeneron's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -2.8% over the past month to $10.48. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -13.2%. Regeneron currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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