U.S. Physical Therapy (USPH Quick QuoteUSPH - Free Report) shares soared 3.2% in the last trading session to close at $105.41. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 10.3% loss over the past four weeks.

U.S. Physical Therapy recorded a price surge before its third-quarter 2021 earnings release with the latest Zacks Consensus Estimate showing significant upward revision compared to the year-ago reported number. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the third-quarter revenues is currently pegged at $124.3 million, indicating an improvement of 14.1% from the year-ago reported figure. The company will be releasing its third-quarter earnings on Nov 4, 2021.

This physician staffing services company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.79 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -8.1%. Revenues are expected to be $124.28 million, up 14.1% 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 U.S. Physical Therapy, 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 USPH going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>