J.P. Morgan Raises Price Target On Jabil Circuit After Earnings (JBL)

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. raised its price target on shares of Jabil Circuit JBL to $23 from $18 and kept its Overweight rating on the stock after it reported earnings yesterday. In the research report sent to investors, J.P. Morgan writes, "FQ1 (Nov.) results were across-the-board better than our estimates and guidance. Likewise, FQ2 (Feb.) guidance was also substantially above our prior forecasts. Strong smartphone demand is driving strength for both Jabil's High Velocity Systems EMS business and its Green Point component business within Specialized Services. We continue to believe mix shift toward higher margin, non-traditional mechanicals and aftermarket services, as well as higher margin industrial, medical, and clean tech EMS businesses and away from lower margin mobile devices, networking, and computing are driving sustainable above-peer revenue growth and operating margin improvement. Jabil appears to be executing on its clear strategy and we expect shares to outperform. Reiterate Overweight." Shares of JBL are up $1.23 in pre-market trading to $18.89, a gain of 7%.