Will Jabil Circuit (JBL) Miss Q2 Earnings? - Analyst Blog

Electronic manufacturing services provider Jabil Circuit Inc. JBL is set to report second-quarter fiscal 2014 results on Mar 19, 2014. In the previous quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 34.0%. Let's see how things are shaping up for this quarter.

Factors in the Past Quarter

Jabil reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. However, management's cautious guidance was a concern. The disengagement from BlackBerry BBRY was a major reason behind the lackluster guidance. Jabil also divested its aftermarket segment, which will lower revenues in the coming quarter.

Jabil expects net revenue to be in the range of $3.5 to $3.7 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2014, down 17.0% from second-quarter 2013. The company projects operating income in the $40.0 to $80.0 million range for the second quarter of 2014. The company expects non-GAAP earnings to be between 5 cents and 15 cents per share for the second quarter.

Jabil's growing partnership with Apple AAPL is a significant positive. Estimated strong growth from the Nypro acquisition, restructuring benefits and customer wins will boost Jabil's competitive position in the near term.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Jabil is likely to beat earnings this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank of #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. This is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: Jabil currently has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at 2 cents.

Zacks Rank: Jabil has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). We caution against stocks with Zacks Ranks #4 and 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions momentum.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here is another company you may want to consider as our model shows that it has the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Facebook FB, Earnings ESP of +11.8% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).