Alignment Healthcare (ALHC) Moves 13.2% Higher: Will This Strength Last?
Alignment Healthcare ALHC shares soared 13.2% in the last trading session to close at $9. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 0.6% loss over the past four weeks.
Alignment Healthcare scored a strong price increase, on investors’ optimism driven by the announcement that the Alignment Health Plan membership has increased by 44% year over year, following a successful Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). The company has also reaffirmed its expectation to achieve a breakeven EBITDA in 2024, backed by its product strategy, expected positive gross profit contributions from new membership, continued operating leverage and ongoing cohort improvement.
This Medicare Advantage insurer is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.23 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +25.8%. Revenues are expected to be $438.52 million, up 21.2% 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 Alignment Healthcare, 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 ALHC 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 >>>>
Alignment Healthcare belongs to the Zacks Medical Services industry. Another stock from the same industry, Embecta Corp. EMBC, closed the last trading session 6% higher at $19.33. Over the past month, EMBC has returned 1.9%.
Embecta Corp.'s consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $0.45. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -53.1%. Embecta Corp. currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
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