Hi-Tech Pharmacal (HITK)

The market really stumbled to begin this new week. The S&P, Dow and NASDAQ each declined by more than 1.3%. For the S&P, the decline was more like 1.5%.

On such a day as this, an advance of 2.21% is enough to push a company to the very apex of the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List, which is exactly what happened today with Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co., Inc. (HITK - Snapshot Report). Volume surpassed 323,000 shares, compared to the daily average of around 276,000.

HITK is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing, manufacturing and marketing generic and branded prescription and OTC products. It specializes in difficult to manufacture liquid and semi-solid dosage forms and produces a range of sterile ophthalmic, otic and inhalation products.

Recently, HITK announced solid fiscal second-quarter numbers, which sparked earnings estimates sharply higher. In fact, the past seven days have seen some hefty advances, including the Zacks Consensus Estimate for this fiscal year, ending April 2012, moving higher by almost 9% to $3.61 per share.

As for next fiscal year, ending April 2013, the past week has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate climb by 10.5% to $3.57.

For its fiscal second quarter, HITK reported net sales that advanced 27% year over year to $56.8 million from $44.6 million. Sales for generic pharmaceuticals were up 33%. Earnings per share came in at $1.04, which was better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 35%. The company has put together six straight quarters with positive EPS surprises.

One of the brightest spots of the quarter was sales for the Fluticasone Propionate nasal spray, which increased to $23 million from $17.3 million as more units were sold at a lower average price.

Read the full analyst report on HITK