Manchester United (MANU) Surges 10.5%: Is This an Indication of Further Gains?

Manchester United (MANU) shares ended the last trading session 10.5% higher at $23.34. 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 7.5% loss over the past four weeks.

Manchester United’s rally is primarily driven by the optimism from takeover speculations from a Qatari investment group. While takeover talks have been doing the rounds for quite some time, multiple media outlets in the U.K. claim that an acquisition could be finalized soon. The transaction will likely pave a path for value additivity to the soccer club and upgrade the stadium. Along with a Qatari-based bid, United expects interest from Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the owner of Ligue 1 side Nice.

This soccer club is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.01 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -116.7%. Revenues are expected to be $170.8 million, down 31.7% 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 Manchester United, 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 MANU going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Manchester United is part of the Zacks Leisure and Recreation Services industry. Inspirato Incorporated (ISPO), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 3.2% higher at $1.29. ISPO has returned 0.8% in the past month.

Inspirato Incorporated’s consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at -$0.09. Compared to the company’s year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +98.8%. Inspirato Incorporated currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

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