Jabil's shares experienced a significant increase on Thursday following the company's report of earnings that exceeded expectations. The circuit board manufacturer also offered robust forecasts for the current quarter and full year due to the ongoing demand for artificial intelligence. Over the past year, Jabil's shares have seen a rise of around 12%.

The surge in Jabil's shares placed them among the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 on Thursday after the company announced better-than-expected earnings and provided a positive outlook. Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jabil reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.94 and revenue of $6.73 billion for the fiscal second quarter. Analysts had anticipated figures of $1.81 per share and $6.40 billion in revenue, as per Visible Alpha's survey.

CEO Mike Dastoor pointed out that the company outperformed expectations in the second quarter due to the ongoing strength in various markets, including capital equipment, cloud, data center infrastructure, and digital commerce.

Jabil's forecasts for the immediate quarter project adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.08 to $2.48 and revenue between $6.7 billion and $7.3 billion, surpassing estimates. For the full year, the company anticipates earnings per share of $8.95 and revenue of $27.9 billion, also exceeding expectations. The increasing demand for AI is expected to play a crucial role in driving growth for Jabil.

Dastoor highlighted that the AI segment of the business is projected to generate approximately $7.5 billion in revenue for the fiscal year due to elevated demands for various equipment and technologies. Jabil's shares rose by over 4% in afternoon trading on Thursday and have seen a 12% increase over the past year.