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Strength Seen in Marinus Pharmaceuticals (MRNS): Can Its 5.4% Jump Turn into More Strength?

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Marinus Pharmaceuticals (MRNS - Free Report) shares soared 5.4% in the last trading session to close at $10.86. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 42.7% gain over the past four weeks.

The sudden surge in the stock price can be attributed to the positive momentum built around the company’s pipeline. Marinus is currently evaluating ganaxolone, in IV and oral formulations, for treating rare seizure disorders, including late-stage studies in tuberous sclerosis complex and refractory status epilepticus. Ganaxolone is the company's neuroactive steroid GABAA receptor modulator. An oral formulation of ganaxolone is already approved by the FDA for the treatment of seizures associated with CDKL5 deficiency disorder in patients two years of age and older. It is marketed in the United States under the brand name Ztalmy.

This epilepsy drug developer is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.76 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +28.3%. Revenues are expected to be $5.14 million, up 187% 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 Marinus Pharmaceuticals, 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 MRNS 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 >>>>

Marinus Pharmaceuticals is part of the Zacks Medical - Drugs industry. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 1.2% higher at $7.04. BCRX has returned -17% in the past month.

For BioCryst, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed +3.9% over the past month to -$0.25. This represents a change of +21.9% from what the company reported a year ago. BioCryst currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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