Jabil Stock Pops After a Beat-And-Raise Quarter

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Jabil (JBL) stock is trading notably higher Wednesday after the electronics manufacturing company beat top- and bottom-line expectations for its fiscal 2025 first quarter and raised its full-year outlook.

In the three months ending November 30, Jabil's revenue decreased 16.6% year over year to $7 billion. Its earnings per share (EPS) were down 23.1% from the year-ago period to $2.00.

"I am very pleased with our first fiscal-quarter results, which came in stronger than we anticipated driven by incremental strength in our Cloud, Data Center Infrastructure, and Digital Commerce end-markets," said Jabil CEO Mike Dastoor in a statement. "As a result, the team was able to deliver strong core EPS and cash flow generation during the quarter."

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The results handily beat analysts' expectations. Wall Street was anticipating revenue of $6.6 billion and earnings of $1.88 per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Following its performance in the first quarter, Jabil raised its outlook for the full fiscal year. The company now expects to achieve revenue of approximately $27.3 billion, up from its previous forecast for revenue of $27 billion. It also anticipates earnings of roughly $8.75 per share, up from its prior outlook for earnings of $8.65 per share. Analysts were forecasting revenue of $27 billion and earnings of $8.69 per share.

For its fiscal second quarter, Jabil said it expects revenue in the range of $6.1 billion to $6.7 billion and EPS of $1.60 to $2.00. The midpoints of these ranges came in ahead of analysts' forecasts for revenue of $6.3 billion and earnings of $1.79 per share.

Is Jabil stock a buy, sell or hold?

Jabil has lagged the broader market in 2024, up roughly 16% for the year to date vs the S&P 500's 27% gain. Still, Wall Street has kept the faith in the tech stock.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the average analyst target price for JBL stock is $147.25, roughly inline with current levels. Meanwhile, the consensus recommendation is Buy. Analysts may very well hike their price targets following the strong earnings release and upwardly revised outlook.

Financial services firm Stifel is one of those with a Buy rating on the large-cap stock, along with a $150 price target.

Jabil has lagged its electronics manufacturing services peers due to "demand headwinds across a number of top customers and an internal management shakeup," wrote Stifel analyst Matthew Sheerin in a December 9 note. "But we expect Jabil to see growth accelerate and margins expand into fiscal 2026 on continued strength in cloud infrastructure demand and a recovery in broader industrial markets."

Joey Solitro is a freelance financial journalist at Kiplinger with more than a decade of experience. A longtime equity analyst, Joey has covered a range of industries for media outlets including The Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Market Realist, and TipRanks. Joey holds a bachelor's degree in business administration.