Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) just released a solid earnings report, and the stock displayed some strength. However, we think that shareholders should be cautious as we found some worrying factors underlying the profit.

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

For anyone who wants to understand Jabil's profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit gained from US$635m worth of unusual items. While it's always nice to have higher profit, a large contribution from unusual items sometimes dampens our enthusiasm. When we crunched the numbers on thousands of publicly listed companies, we found that a boost from unusual items in a given year is often not repeated the next year. And, after all, that's exactly what the accounting terminology implies. Jabil had a rather significant contribution from unusual items relative to its profit to November 2024. All else being equal, this would likely have the effect of making the statutory profit a poor guide to underlying earnings power.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Jabil's Profit Performance

As previously mentioned, Jabil's large boost from unusual items won't be there indefinitely, so its statutory earnings are probably a poor guide to its underlying profitability. For this reason, we think that Jabil's statutory profits may be a bad guide to its underlying earnings power, and might give investors an overly positive impression of the company. But the good news is that its EPS growth over the last three years has been very impressive. At the end of the day, it's essential to consider more than just the factors above, if you want to understand the company properly. If you want to do dive deeper into Jabil, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing.

This note has only looked at a single factor that sheds light on the nature of Jabil's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. While it might take a little research on your behalf, you may find this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with significant insider holdings to be useful.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.