Jarir, one of the largest computer retailers in the Middle East, posted better-than-expected profits in the second quarter of this year at about SAR 236 million, with growth of nearly 20% — the fastest since the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Financial Analysis Unit of Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper, the profit surge was mainly supported by higher sales and improved profit margins due to not offering discounts amid supply scarcity as supply chains were affected by the Iranian war, a relative improvement in the sales mix favoring high-profitability segments, as well as controlling cost of sales.

The company’s profitability and margins have been under pressure recently due to intense competition, forcing it into marketing campaigns and significant discounts, alongside buy-now-pay-later companies taking a significant share of profits.

Thu, 16 2026

Sales growth at slowest pace in 4 quarters

In the second quarter of 2026, sales rose at the slowest pace in four quarters at 7% to reach SAR 2.8 billion, driven by higher sales in most segments, especially smartphones, along with improved sales performance in the company's subsidiaries in GCC countries, benefiting from the inventory built in previous periods and the quality of the company's logistics system despite regional tensions.

Contributing to the sales increase, the company added two new branches last year, two more in the first quarter, and three branches in the second quarter, one of which is in Kuwait, supporting Gulf sales.

Thu, 16 2026

Gross profit rise

As for gross profit, it rose at a faster pace than revenue growth at 24%, due to improved profit margins as product supply scarcity meant the company did not have to resort to promotional discounts. The sales mix also improved in favor of relatively high-profitability segments, such as school supplies and books.

In addition, the cost of sales was controlled, growing only 3% — a slower pace than revenue — causing its share of revenue to decline by 4 percentage points to 88%.

Mon, 14 2024

Although operating and net profit grew at the fastest pace since Q2 2020, at 16% and 19.5% respectively, they were lower than gross profit growth due to higher selling and marketing expenses and general and administrative expenses for operating profit, along with lower other revenues as an additional factor reducing net profit growth.

The second quarter of 2025 had seen non-recurring revenue from the sale of a plot in Riyadh worth SAR 12.1 million.

Margin improvement

The company’s profit margins improved by 2 percentage points for gross margin to 12.3%, and by 1.4 percentage points for operating and net margin to 9.1% and 8.5% respectively.

P/E multiple rises, dividend yield shrinks

Jarir’s stock is currently trading at a P/E multiple of about 20 times, exceeding its annual and quarterly averages of 15.2 and 15.7 times, due to the stock’s recent continuous rise.

The stock trades after today’s close with a dividend yield of about 5%, making it among the highest yields in the market, while the company maintains a long-standing commitment to dividend distribution.

Stock gains 50% since early December

With the improvement in the company’s financial results, its stock jumped 50% since early last December when it was SAR 12.26, reaching SAR 18.38 yesterday, with market gains of SAR 7.3 billion, raising the company’s value to SAR 22 billion, before the stock fell slightly today.

Who is Jarir?

The company was founded in 1979 and converted into a Saudi joint-stock company in 2000. Jarir operates in three main activities: the retail segment, which includes school supplies, computers, and phones sold at retail and represents about two-thirds of revenue, along with wholesale and e-commerce segments.

Jarir has five subsidiaries with the same activity in four Arab countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, and the UAE.

Financial Analysis Unit