KBR (KBR) Soars 8.1%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

KBR Inc. (KBR) shares soared 8.1% in the last trading session to close at $48.14. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 7.9% loss over the past four weeks.

KBR's share price have been gaining from broad-based growth across its business segments, courtesy of its high-end and differentiated government business work, strong margin performance, and technology and consulting services.

This the engineering, construction company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.64 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +10.3%. Revenues are expected to be $1.61 billion, up 4.8% 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 KBR, 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 KBR going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

KBR is a member of the Zacks Engineering - R and D Services industry. One other stock in the same industry, Fluor (FLR), finished the last trading session 2% higher at $23.72. FLR has returned -14.4% over the past month.

For Fluor , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.31. This represents a change of -3.1% from what the company reported a year ago. Fluor currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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