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Utz Brands (UTZ) Moves 6.5% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

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Utz Brands (UTZ - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 6.5% higher at $13.14. 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 6% loss over the past four weeks.

Utz Brands’s stock rally is an extension of its continued innovation efforts that have been impressing investors. The latest addition to Utz's portfolio at nearly 1,300 Publix stores, which included On The Border Chips & Dips, as well as Zapp's and Golden Flake snack foods, aided the recent stock rally. These new launches augmented Utz Brands presence in more Publix stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Utz already has a strong lineup of snacks available at Publix stores, including Utz Potato Chips, Pretzels, and convenient Variety Packs; alongside the On The Border, Zapp’s and Golden Flake varieties.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.11 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -15.4%. Revenues are expected to be $330.61 million, up 11% 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 Utz Brands, 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 UTZ 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 >>>>

Utz Brands is a member of the Zacks Food - Miscellaneous industry. One other stock in the same industry, Darling Ingredients (DAR - Free Report) , finished the last trading session 1.5% lower at $68.46. DAR has returned -11.4% over the past month.

Darling's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $1.37. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +17.1%. Darling currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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