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Zevra Therapeutics (ZVRA) Moves 9.1% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

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Zevra Therapeutics (ZVRA - Free Report) shares soared 9.1% in the last trading session to close at $8.27. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 7.2% gain over the past four weeks.

Last week, Zevra won the FDA approval for arimoclomol as an orally delivered treatment for Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC). The drug will be marketed under the brand name, Miplyffa, in the United States for this indication. This marked a milestone achievement for the company as Miplyffa, in combination with miglustat, becomes the first NPC drug approved by the FDA to treat neurological manifestations of NPC in adult and pediatric patients, aged 2 years and older. Zevra also received a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher from the FDA, following the approval. The rise in Zevra’s stock price is likely due to this announcement.

This specialty pharmaceutical company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.43 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -7.5%. Revenues are expected to be $5.37 million, up 85.3% 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 Zevra Therapeutics, 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 ZVRA 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 >>>>

Zevra Therapeutics is part of the Zacks Medical - Drugs industry. Xeris Biopharma (XERS - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 2.2% higher at $2.82. XERS has returned -4.8% in the past month.

For Xeris Biopharma, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.09. This represents no change from what the company reported a year ago. Xeris Biopharma currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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