BWX Technologies (BWXT) shares soared 11.7% in the last trading session to close at $104.08. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 3.9% loss over the past four weeks.

The latest uptick in BWX Technologies’ share price can be attributed to the recent award worth $2.6 billion, which the company received from the U.S. Department of Energy, to manage and operate the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

This supplier of nuclear fuel and components to the U.S. government is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.71 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -6.6%. Revenues are expected to be $653.05 million, up 8.1% 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 BWX, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 3.2% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. And a negative trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't usually translate into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on BWXT 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 >>>>

BWX is a member of the Zacks Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry. One other stock in the same industry, Axon Enterprise (AXON), finished the last trading session 11.1% higher at $559.84. AXON has returned -4.3% over the past month.

For Axon , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $1.34. This represents a change of +16.5% from what the company reported a year ago. Axon currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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