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Editas (EDIT) Soars 20.3%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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Editas Medicine (EDIT - Free Report) shares soared 20.3% in the last trading session to close at $7.65. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 24.6% loss over the past four weeks.

The sudden rise in stock price can be attributed to the positive momentum built around Edita's move to stregthen its board with the appointment of new chair and new director. Current independent director Emma Reeve has been named Chair of the Board, effective at the company’s next annual stockholder meeting, currently scheduled for June 1. Since joining Editas in 2021, Ms. Reeve has chaired Editas’ audit committee along with providing sound oversight on its recent iNK portfolio divestiture and strategic reprioritization. 

Additionally, the company also appointed Elliott Levy to its Board of Directors as an independent director. Dr. Levy is a decorated biopharmaceutical executive with more than 20 years of global research and development expertise, under his belt. He has previously assumed leadership roles at global biopharmaceutical companies, Amgen and Bristol Myers Squibb.

This genome editing company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.78 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -5.4%. Revenues are expected to be $4.6 million, down 32.1% 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 Editas, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 2.2% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. And a negative trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't usually translate into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on EDIT 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 >>>>

Editas belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. Another stock from the same industry, argenex SE (ARGX - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 1.8% higher at $386.43. Over the past month, ARGX has returned 6.4%.

argenex SE's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$2.42. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +44.5%. argenex SE currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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