Precision BioSciences (DTIL) shares ended the last trading session 6.1% higher at $8.56. 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 11.8% loss over the past four weeks.

The sudden rise in the stock price can be attributed to the positive investor mindset regarding the potential of Precision BioSciences’ clinical-stage pipeline. In late September, the company submitted clinical trial applications across multiple geographies to initiate an early-stage study evaluating its lead gene therapy program, PBGENE-HBV, designed to potentially cure chronic hepatitis B virus. DTIL is also gearing up to submit additional regulatory applications as part of its global phase I regulatory strategy for PBGENE-HBV. 

This genome editing company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.79 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +73.7%. Revenues are expected to be $8.5 million, down 35.2% 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 Precision BioSciences, 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 DTIL going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Precision BioSciences is a member of the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry. One other stock in the same industry, Alector (ALEC), finished the last trading session 3.5% lower at $4.92. ALEC has returned 13.3% over the past month.

Alector's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.53. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents no change. Alector currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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