Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (MSBI Quick QuoteMSBI - Free Report) reached a significant support level, and could be a good pick for investors from a technical perspective. Recently, MSBI'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.

There are three stages to a golden cross. First, there must be a downtrend in a stock's price that eventually bottoms out. Then, the stock's shorter moving average crosses over its longer moving average, triggering a positive trend reversal. The third stage is when a stock continues the upward momentum 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.

Shares of MSBI have been moving higher over the past four weeks, up 15%. Plus, the company is currently a #2 (Buy) on the Zacks Rank, suggesting that MSBI could be poised for a breakout.

Once investors consider MSBI's positive earnings outlook for the current quarter, the bullish case only solidifies. No earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months compared to 4 revisions higher, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased as well.

Given this move in earnings estimates and the positive technical factor, investors may want to keep their eye on MSBI for more gains in the near future.