Jabil Jumps 9% on 4Q Beat, Rosy View

Shares of Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL) leaped more than 9% Wednesday morning as Wall Street applauded the electronics contractor’s 95% surge in fiscal fourth-quarter profits and bullish projections for the current quarter.

Reporting after Tuesday’s close, St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Jabil said it earned $114.3 million, or 52 cents  a share, last quarter, compared with a profit of $58.7 million, or 27 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it earned 62 cents a share, beating the Street’s view of 56 cents.

The company posted quarterly revenue of $4.28 billion, topping forecasts for $4.19 billion.

Wall Street cheered Jabil’s upbeat guidance as the company projected first-quarter non-GAAP EPS of 62 cents to 70 cents on sales of $4.3 billion to $4.5 billion. Analysts had been calling for EPS of just 61 cents on revenue of $4.41 billion.

In response to the results and outlook, analysts at Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and RBC boosted their price targets on Jabil’s stock to as high as $23 Wednesday morning.

Jabil’s news "will be a high bar that will cause competitors to struggle to match results,” Citi analysts said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Shares of Jabil climbed 9% to $18.96.