JBL Stock: Jabil Eyes Multi-Year Growth Cycle

Jabil [JBL] is a contract manufacturing company. The company calls itself a “one-stop shop” for design, engineering, supply chain management and mass production.

Investors expecting multi-year growth on sustained demand from artificial intelligence (AI) clients have pushed the JBL share price nearly 40% higher in 2026.

The St. Petersburg, Florida-based firm heads into its Q4 earnings announcement on 30 September with raised market expectations as investors assess whether its growth outlook justifies its valuations. 

They will also look for updates on hyperscaler projects and large-scale manufacturing projects such as the September deal signed with Akamai [AKAM] to provide customised AI servers.

What to expect from Jabil’s Q4 earnings

AI-led growth forecast: Akamai signs Jabil for Anthropic deal

The AI infrastructure buildout has become the main growth driver within Jabil’s diversified revenue group, with AI-related revenue expected to grow 50% year-on-year to $13.6bn in fiscal 2026.

During Jabil’s Q3 earnings call, management said it had signed its third hyperscale customer and added that demand for chip testing equipment was “through the roof” due to advances in semiconductor technology.

AI-related revenue growth in fiscal 2027 is expected to be “similar” to fiscal 2026 in percentage terms, supported by growing customer demand and additional production capacity, management added.

“What makes that especially impressive is that we expect to sustain this growth rate of a much larger revenue base,” said CEO Michael Dastoor.

On 24 September, Akamai announced that it had signed Jabil to manufacture customised server hardware and provide repair services, as part of its deal to provide computing capacity to AI lab Anthropic. Akamai also authorised Jabil to procure memory components worth $1.7bn.

At its upcoming Q4 earnings, Jabil is expected to provide fiscal 2027 guidance that will offer more clarity on the outlook for its AI-led growth. Investors will also watch margin forecasts as the company looks to improve efficiencies at its new production facilities. Commentary on supply chain pressures, especially memory shortages, will also be closely watched.

Acquisitions and investments: Capital expenditure plans in focus

Jabil has turned to acquisitions and investments to expand across the AI infrastructure stack, while adding production capacity to meet growing demand. 

In January, Jabil announced a minority investment and manufacturing collaboration with Seattle-based power systems manufacturer Eagle Harbor Technologies to serve the growing cluster of semiconductor fabricators in the US.

The same month, Jabil completed a $725m all-cash acquisition of data centre power solutions firm Hanley Energy Group, expanding its capabilities into the deployment and servicing of data centre power systems. The Hanley deal followed Jabil’s acquisition of liquid cooling solutions maker Mikros Technologies, which expanded its thermal management capabilities for data centre customers and other markets.

Jabil has also invested in its existing factories in Canada to produce silicon photonics-based products. In June 2025, the company announced plans to invest $500m in a new production site in Salisbury, North Carolina, to support AI data centre customers in the US.

Investors will be looking for updates on Jabil’s production expansion plans and capital expenditure outlook. In May, the company said it expected fiscal 2027 capital expenditure to rise to between 1.5% and 2.0% of net revenue, compared with 1.0% to 1.5% in fiscal 2026.

Jabil’s India bet: Adani partnership details

Jabil is expanding in India as the country grows as a global manufacturing hub. Its plans include a potential post-wafer fabrication silicon photonics facility in Gujarat and an advanced manufacturing plant in Maharashtra.

In June, Jabil announced plans to partner with Adani Group to build a vertically integrated AI and data centre infrastructure manufacturing platform in the country.

The partnership aims to manufacture and integrate liquid-cooled AI racks, servers, storage and networking systems alongside supporting power and cooling equipment.

With few details disclosed about the structure of the deal, investors will be looking for clarity on Jabil’s capital contribution to the project and its impact on future capital expenditure.

“There is still work to be done before a definitive framework is established. So we view this [Adani deal] as a longer-term opportunity. If the partnership develops as we anticipate, fiscal 2028 is the more realistic starting point for meaningful contributions,” CEO Dastoor said on 17 June.

JBL down 25% from record high

JBL shares are up 39.97% year-to-date, as of 28 September. 

Over the past year, JBL stock gained 47.93% compared with a return of 97.70% for the PHLX Semiconductor Sector index [SOX]. 

US benchmark index S&P 500 and tech-focused Nasdaq Composite index returned 15.65% and 19.29%, respectively, over the same period.

After hitting an all-time high of $428.93 on 17 June, JBL stock corrected by 25.65% to close at $318.93 on 28 September.

In September, Jabil was added to the FTSE All-World Index, increasing its exposure to global investors and index-tracking funds. JBL shares have gained about 4.48% during the month.

Key fundamentals and financial health

Jabil reported a 11.79% y/y rise in net revenue to $8.75bn Q3 2026. Net income attributable jumped 23.87% y/y to $275m.

Diluted earnings per share came in at $2.59 in Q3 compared to $2.03 a year ago.

The Intelligent Infrastructure segment, which includes AI infrastructure, capital equipment, networking and communications, contributed 48% of quarterly revenue, up from 44% a year earlier.

The Regulated Industries segment, which covers automotive, transportation, healthcare and renewable energy, accounted for 36% of Q3 revenue. The remaining 16% came from the Connected Living and Digital Commerce segment, which focuses on digitalisation and automation technologies.

Jabil reported adjusted free cash flow of $991m for the nine months ending 31 May 2026. Long-term debt stood at $2.87bn at the end of Q3, up from $2.38bn from August 2025. Cash and cash equivalents fell to $1.36bn from $1.93bn.

Jabil raised FY2026 net revenue forecast to $35bn, representing an increase of 17.45% from $29.8bn reported in FY2025.

The table below compares Jabil with electronics manufacturing rivals Celestica [CLS] and Sanmina [SANM] across valuation, growth and stock performance metrics:

Source: Yahoo Finance

JBL stock: The investment case

The bull case for Jabil 

Jabil’s AI-related revenue is expected to grow about 50% in FY2026, with management expecting a similar growth rate in FY2027 as new hyperscaler programmes and capacity come online. The company’s diversified portfolio protects its top line from lower-than-expected AI infrastructure spending.

The company also expects growth from the high-margin healthcare sector due to the popularity of GLP-1 drugs, which has increased demand for injection pens.

The bear case for Jabil

Customer concentration remains a risk for Jabil. In FY2025, Jabil’s five largest customers accounted for 36% of its revenue. Meanwhile, demand from the automotive sector remains volatile despite signs of recovery.

Memory and other component shortages could constrain Jabil’s ability to meet hyperscaler and cloud computing client demands.

Conclusion

Jabil expects strong AI demand to support revenue growth in FY2027 as AI infrastructure spending continues to expand. However, key risks for investors to keep in mind include component shortages, higher financing costs and regulatory hurdles that could slow the AI buildout.