Enanta Pharmaceuticals (ENTA) shares soared 5.6% in the last trading session to close at $10.94. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 19.6% loss over the past four weeks.

Last week, the company announced positive top-line data from a phase IIa human challenge study evaluating its pipeline candidate, EDP-323, in healthy adults infected with respiratory syncytial virus. The study met primary and secondary endpoints by demonstrating that treatment with once-daily EDP-323 led to highly statistically significant reductions in both viral load and clinical symptoms versus placebo. This might have driven the share price rally.

This biotechnology company is expected to post quarterly loss of $1.16 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +12.8%. Revenues are expected to be $18.73 million, down 1.1% 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 Enanta Pharmaceuticals, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 5.3% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on ENTA 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 >>>>

Enanta Pharmaceuticals is a member of the Zacks Medical - Drugs industry. One other stock in the same industry, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX), finished the last trading session 2.9% lower at $7.38. BCRX has returned -12.5% over the past month.

For BioCryst , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.07. This represents a change of +63.2% from what the company reported a year ago. BioCryst currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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