Berry Petroleum (BRY Quick QuoteBRY - Free Report) shares soared 6.5% in the last trading session to close at $6.20. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 2% loss over the past four weeks.

The company saw the third consecutive day of price increase since there has been increased optimism over the accelerated recovery in the energy sector following the massive improvement in oil prices. Yesterday, the stock has been upgraded by KeyBanc analyst Leo Mariani to Overweight. Notably, investors are optimistic that the independent upstream energy company will be able to sail through the pandemic-induced uncertainty in energy business since it can lean on its balance sheet strength.

Price and Consensus

This independent upstream energy company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.07 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -130.4%. Revenues are expected to be $109.23 million, down 67.8% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For Berry Petroleum, 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 BRY 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 >>>>