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Splunk (SPLK) Just Flashed Golden Cross Signal: Do You Buy?

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Splunk Inc. reached a significant support level, and could be a good pick for investors from a technical perspective. Recently, SPLK's 50-day simple moving average broke out above its 200-day moving average; this is known as a "golden cross."

There's a reason traders love a golden cross -- it's a technical chart pattern that can indicate a bullish breakout is on the horizon. This kind of crossover is formed when a stock's short-term moving average breaks above a longer-term moving average. Typically, a golden cross involves the 50-day and the 200-day moving averages, since bigger time periods tend to form stronger breakouts.

Golden crosses have three key stages that investors look out for. It starts with a downtrend in a stock's price that eventually bottoms out, followed by the stock's shorter moving average crossing over its longer moving average and triggering a trend reversal. The final stage is when a stock continues the upward climb to higher prices.

A golden cross is the opposite of a death cross, another technical event that indicates bearish price movement may be on the horizon.

Over the past four weeks, SPLK has gained 25.1%. The company currently sits at a #2 (Buy) on the Zacks Rank, also indicating that the stock could be poised for a breakout.

The bullish case solidifies once investors consider SPLK's positive earnings outlook. For the current quarter, no earnings estimate has been cut compared to 1 revisions higher in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased too.

Moving Average Chart for SPLK

Investors should think about putting SPLK on their watchlist given the ultra-important technical indicator and positive move in earnings estimates.

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