Jabil Swings To Loss

(RTTNews) - Contract electronics manufacturer Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL) said Wednesday after the markets closed that it swung to a fourth quarter loss, hurt by lower revenue and restructuring charges.

However, core operating earnings per share for the quarter came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue. At the same time, the company gave an upbeat outlook for the current quarter and maintained its core earnings forecast for the current fiscal year.

Jabil shares are currently gaining 3.60% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $20.85, down 2 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $15.30 to $24.13.

For the fourth quarter ended August 31, 2014, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based company reported a net loss of $26.2 million or $0.13 per share, compared to net income of $127.0 million or $0.61 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Loss from continuing operations for the fourth quarter was $0.10 per share, compared to income from continuing operations of $0.55 per share in the prior year quarter.

Excluding items, core earnings for the fourth quarter were $10.2 million or $0.05 per share, compared to $95.2 million or $0.46 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report breakeven per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net revenue for the fourth quarter fell 10% to $4.06 billion from $4.51 billion in the same quarter last year. Ten analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.83 billion for the fourth quarter.

Looking forward to the first quarter, the company forecast revenue of $4.2 million to $4.4 billion, earnings of $0.24 to $0.40 per share and core earnings of $0.41 to $0.53 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.41 per share on revenue of $4.11 billion for the first quarter.

The company maintained its fiscal year 2015 core earnings outlook of $1.65 to $1.95 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $1.74 per share for the fiscal year 2015.