Drugmaker Alkermes put up some astounding growth numbers and its stock rose sharply as a result. Until last quarter that is. The Street doesn't seem concerned though by the blip last quarter. Its stock is up about 27% in the last three months and continues to rise.

The Relative Strength (RS) Rating for Alkermes (ALKS) moved up into a new percentile Monday, as it got a lift from 64 to 76. The upgraded 76% RS Rating shows that Alkermes stock tops 76% of all stocks for price performance this past year.

It's nearing a key benchmark. Market research shows that the best growth stocks often have an 80 or higher RS Rating when they launch their biggest moves, and it's just a few points below that.

Alkermes Profits Surged, Except Last Quarter

Over the past four quarters Alkermes reported 277% earnings growth, then 20%, 155% and an 8% drop last quarter. Its EPS dip last quarter is partly due to a tough comp with the same quarter a year earlier when its earnings soared 255%. Quarterly revenue this past year rose 51%, 42%, 22% and a 35% decrease to $399.1 million last quarter.

Third quarter earnings results are due on or around Oct. 23.

Can You Really Time The Stock Market?

Ireland-based Alkermes develops treatments for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases (conditions that damage and can destroy parts of the nervous system).

Watchlist candidate Alkermes stock is trying to complete a cup without handle with a 32.88 buy point. It traded just above 29 Monday afternoon, up about 0.5% for the day. See if the stock can break out in volume at least 40% above average.

Among Top 20 In Huge Group

Alkermes holds the No. 19 rank among its peers in the 735-stock Medical-Biomed/Biotech industry group. ADMA Biologics (ADMA), Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX) and United Therapeutics (UTHR) are among the top 5 highly rated stocks in the group.

IBD's proprietary RS Rating measures technical performance by using a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score that identifies how a stock's price action over the trailing 52 weeks stacks up against all the other stocks in our database.

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