Jacobs Engineering Group Increases Sales but Misses Revenue Estimate (JEC)

Jacobs Engineering Group Increases Sales but Misses Revenue Estimate

Jacobs Engineering Group (NYSE: JEC ) reported earnings on Nov. 13. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Sep. 28 (Q4), Jacobs Engineering Group missed estimates on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased slightly and GAAP earnings per share grew.

Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
Jacobs Engineering Group reported revenue of $2.79 billion. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $2.90 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 2.3% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.72 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.80. The 17 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.79 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.83 for Q4 were 12% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.74 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 16.0%, 30 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 6.0%, 20 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.9%, 40 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.91 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.79.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $12.17 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.32.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 978 members out of 1,004 rating the stock outperform, and 26 members rating it underperform. Among 225 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 218 give Jacobs Engineering Group a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Jacobs Engineering Group is outperform, with an average price target of $49.94.

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Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor of Motley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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