Investopedia: Jabil Likely Still In A Holding Pattern

For a couple of quarters now, I've thought that Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL) looked undervalued on a long-term basis, but that the trends in the electronic manufacturing services (EMS) industry were likely to keep the stock stuck. To that end, the shares are down about 1% for the year, even though the company's business with Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) seems to be ramping up well. I continue to believe that Jabil's current price understates its long-term value, but I also believe that getting the timing right on when to buy this stock could be tricky given the ongoing malaise across so much of consumer and tech hardware.

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Investopedia: Is Jabil Quietly Loading Both Barrels?

Investors should be careful to place only a very few stocks in the "permanently uninvestable" box. Typically this is reserved for companies where management is untrustworthy, the business is in inexorable decline or the cyclicality is just too much to bear. While I confess to being quite hard on Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL) in the past and very nearly putting it in that dreaded box, this company may actually be shaping up as an interesting play for the next few years.

A Solid Close to the Year  

Part of my skepticism on Jabil has been based on the company's customer list. Right now, if you rely on Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO), Research In Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) and NetApp (Nasdaq:NTAP) for meaningful revenue dollars, you cannot be feeling too good. And yet, Jabil managed to post a very solid quarter all the same - testament, perhaps, to the company's diversity of clients and markets.

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Investopedia: Now May Be The Time For Jabil

There are plenty of valid reasons to take one look at an EMS provider like Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL), Flextronics (Nasdaq:FLEX) or Celestica (NYSE:CLS) and not bother again. After all, this is a highly cyclical market where the companies have minimal control over their own revenue, narrow margins and returns on capital that arguably do not cover their cost of capital. 


And yet, savvy investors realize that there may be a time and place for almost any stock. With the tech market in the doldrums and several major customers gasping, Jabil should be in rough shape. Oddly enough, the company is doing relatively well and may in fact be worth a look from investors who understand that this would not be a permanent engagement.

Decent Third-Quarter Performance
Third-quarter results at Jabil were not too bad, particularly given the weakness at customers like Research In Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) and Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO). Revenue rose 22% from the year-ago level, and 8% from the prior quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by almost $100 million. Growth was strong in the Enterprise and Infrastructure and Diversified Manufacturing Services units, and those offset weakness in High Velocity Systems.
 

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