Codexis (CDXS Quick QuoteCDXS - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 6.2% higher at $20.50. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 26.2% loss over the past four weeks.

The rise in share prices is most likely attributable to positive investor expectations on development of engineered enzymes which the company uses not only to develop novel therapeutics for its own pipeline but also used by its partners to develop effective drugs. The company already has collaborations with popular pharma companies, like Pfizer and Merck.

This producer of custom industrial enzymes is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.18 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -200%. Revenues are expected to be $24.09 million, up 14.5% 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 Codexis, 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 CDXS 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 >>>>