Why Jacobs Engineering Group Inc's Shares Plunged 11% Today

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of construction services company Jacobs Engineering Group Inc dropped as much as 11% today after it reported fiscal second-quarter earnings.

So what: Revenue fell 8.6% from a year ago and net income attributable to shareholders dropped 2% to $82.0 million, or $0.64 per share. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.72, which fell $0.06 below estimates, and revenue also fell short of expectations of $3.19 billion.

To top it off, management said full-year earnings would be $2.90-$3.20 versus analyst estimates of $3.34 per share.

Now what: On the bright side, backlog increased 2.5% from a year ago to $8.9 billion, but most of those additional sales won't hit the books this fiscal year. But low energy and commodity prices are having a negative impact in the immediate term. Given the negative results right now, I think even paying 14 times the top end of this year's earnings is expensive, so I'll stay out of shares today.

The article Why Jacobs Engineering Group Inc's Shares Plunged 11% Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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