Prothena (PRTA Quick QuotePRTA - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 7.3% higher at $59.24. 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 24% gain over the past four weeks.

Prothena’s share price has surged on investors’ optimism for its pipeline candidate, PRX005, which is being evaluated for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The candidate is an investigational antibody that targets tau, a protein implicated in diseases including AD, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and other tauopathies. The FDA’s approval of Biogen’s AD drug Aduhelm has raised prospects of the other AD candidates in the pipeline.   

This drug developer is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.31 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +147%. Revenues are expected to be $60.14 million, up 29971.5% 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 Prothena, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 226.2% 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 PRTA 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 >>>>