Saia (SAIA) Surges 3.1%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?
Saia (SAIA) shares ended the last trading session 3.1% higher at $382.22. 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 17.4% gain over the past four weeks.
The uptick was owing to fellow trucking company Yellow Corporation missing healthcare and pension payments. As a result of the failure to make the required union contribution, the Teamsters union is threatening a strike, if the the debet-ladden Yellow Corporation does not make the payment by this Friday. The northward movement of Saia's shares due the development at Yellow was, in fact, part of a broader rally in the trucking industry.
This trucking company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $3.25 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -20.7%. Revenues are expected to be $700.31 million, down 6.1% 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 Saia, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised marginally 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 SAIA 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 >>>>
Saia is a member of the Zacks Transportation - Truck industry. One other stock in the same industry, Heartland Express (HTLD), finished the last trading session 2.6% higher at $15.57. HTLD has returned -6.9% over the past month.
For Heartland Express , the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -9.1% over the past month to $0.16. This represents a change of -83.5% from what the company reported a year ago. Heartland Express currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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