ATN International (ATNI) Moves 12.5% Higher: Will This Strength Last?

(ATNI) shares soared 12.5% in the last trading session to close at $29.11. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 18.7% gain over the past four weeks.

The uptrend was largely buoyed by the divestment of 214 Southwestern U.S. towers and related operations for up to $297 million in an all-cash transaction. The divestment will enable ATNI to unlock the inherent value of its tower portfolio and reduce its debt burden. It will further increase its liquidity and improve financial flexibility to help invest in core operations for sustainable, long-term value creation.

This provider of telecommunications services is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.03 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -89.3%. Revenues are expected to be $183.6 million, up 1.7% 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 ATN International, 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 ATNI 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 >>>>

ATN International is part of the Zacks Wireless National industry.

(GOGO), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 1.8% higher at $3.99. GOGO has returned -19% in the past month.

For Gogo, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -16% over the past month to $0.02. This represents a change of -71.4% from what the company reported a year ago. Gogo currently has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).