Lumentum Holdings Inc. (LITE) experienced a significant pre-market surge of 5.08% on Thursday, with the optical communications stock rallying strongly in early trading.
The sharp upward movement follows the publication of a new academic study in the Journal of Banking & Finance that identified Lumentum as one of the top momentum stocks in the market. According to the research, Lumentum showed a momentum period gain of +1,091% using an alternative measurement methodology designed to avoid the crashes that sometimes plague traditional momentum strategies.
The study, conducted by researchers at Germany's University of Münster, proposed measuring momentum from a stock's price 12 months ago to its highest price between then and one month ago, rather than the traditional approach. Lumentum ranked among the top 10 highest momentum stocks in the Russell 1000 index using this methodology, which may have attracted investor attention and contributed to the pre-market buying activity.