Delta Apparel shares rallied 9.6% in the last trading session to close at $32.91. This move can be attributable to notable volume with a higher number of shares being traded than in a typical session. This compares to the stock's 7.8% gain over the past four weeks.

Shares of Delta Apparel got a boost from impressive preliminary sales numbers for first-quarter fiscal 2022. The company highlighted that it expects net sales to be nearly $109 million, reflecting a year-over-year increase of almost 15%. The impressive sales growth can be attributed to solid demand across each business unit along with robust manufacturing and operational performance. Increased selling prices also contributed to sales growth. Management unveiled that the Delta Group as well as the Salt Life Group both generated double digit sales growth in the fiscal first quarter.

This maker of branded and private-label apparel is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.28 per share in its upcoming report, which represents no change from the year-ago quarter. Revenues are expected to be $104.2 million, up 10% 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 Delta Apparel, 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 DLA going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

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