Bridgepoint Education (BPI) and Basic Energy Services (BAS)

There's a lot of concern right now among education companies regarding an upcoming Department of Education regulation. However, that worry did not impact Bridgepoint Education (BPI - Snapshot Report) on Monday, as it took charge of the Zacks #1 Rank List.

BPI was THE top performer today, gaining more than 11.8%. Volume surpassed 2.2 million shares, versus its average daily volume of only around 630,000.

The epicenter of this share price growth stems from a brokerage firm that raised BPI's investment rating to 'Overweight' from 'Neutral'.

Bridgepoint Education provides postsecondary education services that focus on offering associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in such disciplines as business, education, psychology, social sciences and health sciences. Its academic institutions (Ashford University and University of the Rockies) deliver programs online and at traditional campuses.

It is currently the only company from the SCHOOLS industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List.

The past month has seen some sharp advances in earnings estimates for Bridgepoint Education. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2011 is $2.57 per share, which is up 16.3% from 30 days ago. Agreement among analysts has been near-unanimous, as 8 of 9 total estimates moved higher.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2012 is $2.54 per share, or 10.4% better than a month ago. Out of 9 total estimates, there have been 7 upward revisions in that time.

Of course, it wasn't the brokerage upgrade and share price pop that led to the higher earnings estimates. That honor goes to a solid first-quarter performance from early this month. Earnings per share of 92 cents squashed the year-earlier performance, while easily topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by nearly 56%.

BPI has been on quite a roll when it comes to quarterly earnings surprises, as the chart below shows:

Also in the quarter, revenue advanced to $229.4 million from $156.1 million last year. Total student enrollment was up 34% to 88,252, while new student enrollments increased 13.4% to 27,550.

But the best news in the quarter (and the main reason behind the earnings estimate improvement) stems from Bridgepoint Education's outlook. The company now expects earnings per share between $2.47 and $2.57 for 2011, compared to the earlier outlook of $2.18 to $2.22. At the time of the announcement, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year was only at $2.21 per share.

It also expects revenue between $886.5 million and $901.5 million, with total student enrollment at 82,000 to 83,500.

Basic Energy Services, Inc. (BAS - Snapshot Report) put together a strong performance on the Zacks #1 Rank List too, and has also seen its earnings estimates advance in the past 30 days after a solid quarterly report.

Shares for the company gained 9.65% today with volume almost at 950,000, compared to the daily average of 748,000.

BAS provides well site services essential to maintaining production from the oil and gas wells within its operating area. It is one of 4 companies from the Oil-Field Services industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List. The other 3 names are Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI - Analyst Report), CARBO Ceramics Inc. (CRR - Snapshot Report) and Key Energy Services, Inc. (KEG - Snapshot Report).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year is $1.35 per share, as much as 71% better than 30 days ago. There are 14 total estimates for the period, and 9 of them have been revised upward in that time.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2012 is expected to advance by 36.3% year over year to $1.84 per share. That guidance is also up 55% in a month on 8 upward revisions out of 14 total estimates.

In its first-quarter report from late April, Basic Energy Services announced earnings per share of 20 cents, which was 900% better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate at 2 cents. The company stated that activity levels, revenue and margins improved sequentially in each of its segments.

Revenue rose 16% to $246 million from $212.9 million.

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Read the full analyst report on KEG

Read the full analyst report on BHI

Read the full analyst report on CRR

Read the full analyst report on BPI