5 Stocks Set to Soar on Bullish Earnings
BY Roberto Pedone| 09/24/13 - 12:29 PM EDT
Stock quotes in this article: THO, FINL, MTN, AZZ, JBL
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AZZ
Another earnings short-squeeze prospect is electrical equipment and components maker AZZ (AZZ), which is set to release numbers on Friday before the market open. Wall Street analysts, on average, expect AZZ to report revenue of $202.83 million on earnings of 66 cents per share.
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The current short interest as a percentage of the float for AZZ sits at 2.9%. That means that out of the 24.47 million shares in the tradable float, 696,000 shares are sold short by the bears. If the bulls get the earnings news they're looking for, then shares of AZZ could spike sharply higher post-earnings as the bears look to cover some of their bets.
From a technical perspective, AZZ is currently trending above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last three months, with shares moving higher from its low of $34.61 to its recent high of $44.69 a share. During that uptrend, shares of AZZ have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of AZZ within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade post-earnings.
If you're bullish on AZZ, then I would wait until after its report and look for long-biased trades if this stock manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance at $44.69 a share with high volume. Look for volume on that move that hits near or above its three-month average action of 229,856 shares. If that breakout triggers, the AZZ will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $49.10 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give AZZ a chance to trend north of $50 a share.
I would simply avoid AZZ or look for short-biased trades if after earnings it fails to trigger that breakout and then drops back below its 200-day at $41.10 a share with high volume. If we get that move, then AZZ will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major support levels at its 50-day of $38.70 a share to $36 to $35 a share.
