Molecular Templates Inc. (MTEM Quick QuoteMTEM - Free Report) shares rallied 11.8% in the last trading session to close at $6.54. This move can be attributable to notable volume with a higher number of shares being traded than in a typical session. This compares to the stock's 12% loss over the past four weeks.

Molecular Templates continues to progress with its proprietary engineered toxin bodies (ETBs) candidates, TAK-169 and MT-6402, for the treatment of oncology indications. Investors expect the company to provide updates on the progress of these candidate at the Oppenheimer Fall Healthcare Life Sciences & MedTech Summit. Its share price is likely to have been driven by the anticipated positive updates. 

This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.33 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +29.8%. Revenues are expected to be $15.69 million, up 265% 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 Molecular Templates Inc., 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 MTEM 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 >>>>