Shares of Jabil Inc. JBL, +1.19% jumped 5.1% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the contract manufacturer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations, provided an upbeat outlook for the current quarter and set a $1 billion stock buyback program. Net income for the quarter to Aug. 31 rose to $315 million, or $2.25 a share, from $175 million, or $1.16 a share, in the year ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $2.34 beat the FactSet consensus of $2.15. Revenue grew 21.9% to $9.03 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $8.39 billion. Looking ahead, the company expects first-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.00 to $2.40, which surrounds the FactSet consensus of $2.11, and revenue of $9.0 billion to $9.6 billion, which is above expectations of $8.93 billion. The company set a new $1 billion share repurchase program, which represents about 12.9% of the company’s market capitalization as of Monday’s closing stock price. “This new authorization reflects our belief in Jabil’s ability to generate strong earnings and free cash flow,” said Chief Financial Officer Mike Dastoor. The stock has gained 1.8% over the past three months while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.60% has lost 6.3%.
