Jabil Circuit Takes Out the Ax

Excluding certain items like stock-based compensation charges, acquisition charges and restructuring, the electronics manufacturing-services company made $78.5 million, or 36 cents a share, up from $68.9 million, or 33 cents a share during the parallel quarter of 2005.

On that basis, the company was in the top range of its recently revised guidance, but missed the consensus by a penny.

Jabil posted revenue of $2.59 billion, compared with $1.9 billion in the same quarter last year. That was a shade above the average estimate from Thomson First Call at $2.57 billion.

For the fourth quarter now under way, Jabil said it would earn 30 to 35 cents a share before items, missing the average Thomson First Call forecast of 42 cents a share.

Fourth-quarter GAAP EPS should hit 24 to 29 cents, the company said, including 3 cents a share for amortization of intangibles and 3 cents a share for stock-based compensation.

Jabil expects revenue between $2.75 billion and $2.95 billion, above analysts' estimates of $2.69 billion.

For the full fiscal year 2006, Jabil said revenue would range from $10.1 billion to $10.3 billion, higher than the consensus at $9.97 billion. Full-year EPS will be $1.47 to $1.52, short of the consensus estimate of $1.60.

"We are very positive and optimistic about the quality of our business and the direction we're heading," Main said.

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