Jabil Circuit Swings To Profit, Shares Up 9% On Strong Outlook

(RTTNews) - Contract electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuit Inc (JBL), Thursday reported a swing to profit in the fourth quarter, driven largely by increase in revenues. Jabil's earnings and revenue for the quarter trumped Wall Street estimates.

Moving ahead, Jabil detailed a strong outlook for the first quarter and full year 2016, sending its shares surging by about 9 percent in after-hours trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

St. Petersburg, Florida-based Jabil reported a fourth-quarter profit of $87.7 million or $0.45 per share, compared to a loss of $26.2 million or $0.13 per share last year a ago.

Excluding one-time items, core earnings for the quarter rose to $103.2 million or $0.53 per share from $10.2 million or $0.05 per share last year. On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.45 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the fourth quarter rose to $4.68 billion from $4.06 billion a year ago. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $4.55 billion for the quarter.

For the first quarter, Jabil expects core earnings of $0.72 to $0.88 per share and revenues of $5.1 billion to $5.3 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.61 per share on revenues of $4.91 billion for the quarter.

For the full year 2016, Jabil anticipates core earnings of around $2.60 per share and revenues of about $20 billion. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $2.37 per share on revenues of $19.29 billion for 2016.

CEO Mark Mondello said, "Jabil's strong first quarter guidance can be directly attributed to the commitment of our employees, the exceptional brands we serve and a focused pursuit of our growth strategy."

Apple is one of the biggest customers of Jabil, for which it manufactures iPhone casings. The strong pre-orders of iPhone 6S and 6S Plus looks to have had a good impact on Jabil's revenues for the future.

Jabil recently expanded its facility in Chengdu, China and plans to construct new facilities in Malaysia in the second half of 2016.

JBL closed Thursday's trading at $19.50, up $0.41 or 2.15%. The stock subsequently jumped $1.73 or 8.87% in the after-hours trade.