Olympic Steel (ZEUS Quick QuoteZEUS - Free Report) shares soared 17.9% in the last trading session to close at $34.26. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 4.3% loss over the past four weeks.

Olympic Steel’s shares have gained in anticipation of strong first-quarter results. The company’s results are expected to be supported by its actions to lower operating expenses and strength in its pipe and tube and specialty metals businesses. Improved industrial market conditions, a rebound in demand and higher metal prices are expected to drive its top line and margins in the first quarter.

Price and Consensus

This steel maker is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.30 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +6400%. Revenues are expected to be $447.2 million, up 26.2% 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 Olympic Steel, 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 ZEUS going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

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