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Ono Pharmaceutical Co. (OPHLF) Soars 13.9%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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Ono Pharmaceutical Co. (OPHLF - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 13.9% higher at $16.11. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 10.8% loss over the past four weeks.

Ono Pharmaceutical's recent share price gain is likely to be driven by improving investor confidence in the company's expanding oncology and specialty medicine portfolio. Recently, the company obtained domestic manufacturing and marketing approval for antiepileptic drug Excopri tablets for treating partial-onset seizures, including secondary generalized seizures, in epilepsy patients. The approval was supported by a phase III study in Asian patients, in which Excopri significantly reduced seizure frequency when added to existing treatments, with a manageable safety profile. Earlier this month, the company entered a drug discovery collaboration with Aitia to use its REFS technology to identify new neurological drug targets and biomarkers. Ono will have the option to exclusively research, develop and commercialize drug candidates emerging from the collaboration worldwide.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.26 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -18.8%. Revenues are expected to be $714.29 million, down 18.7% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For Ono Pharmaceutical Co., 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 OPHLF 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 >>>>

Ono Pharmaceutical Co. belongs to the Zacks Medical - Drugs industry. Another stock from the same industry, NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NRXP - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 4.8% lower at $3.16. Over the past month, NRXP has returned -9.5%.

NRx Pharmaceuticals' consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -264.3% over the past month to -$0.26. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -44.4%. NRx Pharmaceuticals currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).

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