Mark Mondello
Analyst · Paul Coster, JPMorgan
Thanks, Beth. Good afternoon. I appreciate everyone taking time to join our call today. As always, a special thanks to our employees here at Jabil. Each and every day, they serve our customers while keeping our people safe. And speaking of people, I’d like to express my deepest sympathies for those who faced heavy loss caused by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as the numerous earthquakes in Mexico, and around the world. Our hearts and prayers go out to all including some of our very own Jabil family who so negatively impacted their lives especially our team in Puerto Rico. In the face of these tragedies, the type of tragedies that test human character, I am proud to see our people rally together, jump in and with absolutely no questions asked, help those in need across the communities where they work and live. Now, moving on to our fourth quarter results. We had an excellent quarter. Our EMS segment performed extremely well exceeding our expectations in terms of both revenue and income. As for our DMS segment, our packaging and healthcare businesses met their lofty goals while our Greenpoint team navigated technically challenged program ramps driving factory costs higher for the quarter to the tune of $16 million to $17 million. So the good news in all of this, these efforts and events collectively resulted in $0.64 of core earnings per share, which is slightly better than our expectation for the corporation as a whole. Most importantly, this quarter illustrates the strength and diversification of our income and cash flows across the Jabil enterprise. Overall, I am pleased with the quarter, a strong close to a very solid year. Forbes will speak to our forward guidance and highlight more detail around 4Q during his prepared remarks. But first, I’d like to acknowledge and recognize a set of vital accomplishments delivered by our team throughout fiscal year 2017. The year was a near perfect illustration of what we said a year ago during Jabil’s Investor Day. First, within our EMS segment, we committed to progressive transformation of our approach in solution set, while at the same time, growing income at a pace greater than the end-markets served. We made tremendous progress on both accounts resulting in our EMS core operating margin expanding 50 basis points year-on-year. Second, in our Healthcare and Packaging businesses, we committed to strong double-digit growth, while helping improve the way in which people live. As we sit today, I check the box on both. Healthcare and Packaging are on track to grow 20% compounded annual growth rate per year through fiscal 2019 becoming quite material to Jabil’s financial performance. And third, we committed to remain a preeminent precision mechanics provider for the mobility market. We’ve successfully delivered on all three of these strategic objectives while continuing to invest in key technologies that can be leveraged across the markets we serve. Furthermore, while Forbes was speaking at our Investor Day, he committed to $1 billion in cash flow from operations while establishing a goal of $2.50 per share in free cash flow for fiscal 2017. We achieved both and by a wide margin. As I wrap up my fiscal 2017 comments, I’d certainly be remiss if I didn’t express my gratitude to our entire Jabil team across all of our functional disciplines who worked so hard and were so integral in driving the company’s success throughout the year. Thank you. As we look ahead to fiscal year 2018, our first quarter guidance suggests a strong start to the year. 90 days ago, I stated that we have a plan to deliver core operating income in the neighborhood of $2.60 a share for fiscal 2018. Today, we stand by that plan as the plan remains grounded by program pipelines currently on our radar. Add to this, a plan to deliver free cash flow in excess of $2 a share for the year, while we invest in areas that we believe will yield reliable earnings and cash flows in fiscal 2019 and beyond. As we navigate the fiscal year, we intend to leverage the stability of our EMS business, while managing double-digit growth within our DMS segment. Revenue for the corporation should be in the range of $20 billion to $21 billion, growth for our EMS segment should be roughly 3%, and the shape of core income for EMS when comparing the first half of the year to the second half of the year should look very similar to fiscal 2017. And finally, our DMS business, like always, will be dependent on product sell-through. In summary, we’ve offered first quarter revenue guidance of $5.5 billion, reflecting strength in revenue and market share, again a strong start to fiscal year 2018. In closing, I’d like to offer select thoughts about where I think we are going in fiscal year 2019 and beyond. At Jabil, our shareholders are squarely at the forefront of our thoughts and actions, and to that end, we believe in what we are doing. We have a credible plan based on sound assumptions and while we typically don’t speak prematurely of our successes, we are confident in our path forward. Please consider, our plan delivered core earnings of $1.86 per share in fiscal year 2016, and $2.11 per share in fiscal year 2017. Add to this an expected $2.60 a share of core earnings in fiscal year 2018, and a goal to deliver $3 a share of core earnings for fiscal year 2019. If achieved, this implies a compounded growth rate north of 15% for Jabil’s core earnings per share over this time horizon. But what’s even more impactful is the ever-changing makeup of these earnings. When we dissect the individual components of future income streams, there is compelling evidence that our diversification will increase establishing what I believe will be even more predictable earnings and cash flows as we move forward. On top of that, we’ll continue to invest and invest heavily for our future. Examples of these investments include additive manufacturing in 3D print, automation and robotics, smart factory and digital platforms, as well as material sciences, just to name a few. Make no mistake these investments are planned and executed with a sense of purpose and as a result, our belief of success is happening by design. Jabil is an agile, decisive and most efficient operator of our business. We are working hard to construct a fantastic company that’s sustainable for years to come. A company that we believe will be the most technologically advanced manufacturing solutions company in the world. And in doing so, there will be no room for compromise when it comes to keeping our people safe, demonstrating the highest level of respect for the environment, and making real social difference around the world. Jabil’s brand is the brand behind the world’s greatest brands and we are making the world better, safer, healthier, and cleaner. Thank you, and with that I’ll now turn the call over to Forbes.