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Century (CENX) Stock Jumps 12.8%: Will It Continue to Soar?

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Century Aluminum (CENX - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 12.8% higher at $8.02. 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 39.5% loss over the past four weeks.

Optimism over strong demand in core markets in the United States and Europe seemed to have driven the stock higher. While the company continues to witness inflationary pressure in energy markets and other key raw materials, it is expected to benefit from its focus on cost discipline and execution as well as high aluminum prices.

This aluminum producer is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.71 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +363%. Revenues are expected to be $918.4 million, up 73.9% 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 Century, 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 CENX 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 >>>>

Century is part of the Zacks Metal Products - Procurement and Fabrication industry. GrafTech International (EAF - Free Report) , another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 4.6% higher at $7.72. EAF has returned -15.3% in the past month.

GrafTech's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.41. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -4.7%. GrafTech currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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