Acadia (ACAD) Surges 15.5%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?

Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) shares rallied 15.5% in the last trading session to close at $18.77. 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 4.7% loss over the past four weeks.

Shares of the company rallied after the FDA issued briefing documents related to the resubmitted sNDA for Nuplazid (pimavanserin) for treating hallucinations and delusions associated with Alzheimer's disease psychosis (“ADP”). Per the FDA briefing document, the agency decided that the study was designed with features which could allow it to be considered an adequate and well-controlled one, suitable for regulatory decision making.

This drugmaker is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.24 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +11.1%. Revenues are expected to be $131.19 million, up 13.9% 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 Acadia, 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 ACAD 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 >>>>

Acadia belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Another stock from the same industry, Akoya Biosciences (AKYA), closed the last trading session 3.3% higher at $10.42. Over the past month, AKYA has returned 11.7%.

Akoya's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.34. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -70%. Akoya currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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