A Boeing 777x is on display during the Paris Air Show at Paris-Le Bourget airport on June 20, 2023.
Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt | AFP | Getty Images
BoeingAirliner deliveries brought it back into positive territory for the first time in nearly two years, but it had to pay $4.9 billion for additional delays of its highly anticipated 777X widebody.
Boeing is on pace to deliver the most planes this year since 2018, before two crashes grounded its best-selling jetliner, the Covid pandemic battered supply chains and a slew of manufacturing crises led to years of losses for the top U.S. exporter.
CEO Kelly Ortberg, an aerospace veteran who came out of retirement to lead Boeing in August 2024, has worked to stabilize the automaker’s sprawling supply chain and cash-generating production lines.
The 777X, an updated version of its 777 aircraft, made its first flight almost six years ago but still has not won approval from regulators. Boeing says it now expects the first delivery in 2027, which will incur non-cash costs.
“While there is still work to do to advance our development programs, particularly our business development and certification programs, we are seeing positive signs across our business, and I am proud of how we are coming together to turn our company around,” Ortberg said in a staff memo.
Nonetheless, Boeing generated free cash flow of $238 million, its first time positive on this metric since late 2023.
Boeing lost $4.78 billion, or $7.14 per share, in the quarter ended September 30. That’s better than the loss of $5.76 billion a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company reported a loss of $7.47 per share. Revenue jumped 30% to $23.27 billion in the third quarter, up from $17.84 billion a year ago and ahead of analyst estimates.
Here’s Boeing’s third-quarter performance compared to analyst estimates compiled by LSEG:
- Loss per share: $7.47 per share adjusted versus expected loss of $4.59
- Income: $23.27 billion versus $21.97 billion expected
Airline customers said they saw improvement at Boeing, with more accurate delivery forecasts, a change in line with complaints in previous years.
In the first nine months of the year, Boeing delivered 440 planes, compared to 291 for the same period last year. Airlines and other customers pay for most of the planes when they receive them. Increasing the pace of deliveries is therefore essential to enable Boeing to stem a cash outflow totaling nearly $17 billion from the start of 2024 through June of this year.
Last year was supposed to be a turnaround year for Boeing, but a mid-air explosion of a door panel in January 2024 led to a near disaster and increased federal oversight that slowed production.
But Boeing has made progress. Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration raised the production cap for Boeing’s 737 Max from 38 to 42 per month, a restriction put in place after the crash.
The FAA is also now allowing Boeing to proceed with final approval of some of its planes, a sign of its regulator’s increased confidence.
The company is not out of the woods yet. Its Max 7 and Max 10 variants as well as the 777X are years late and have not yet won approval from regulators.
And about 3,200 employees of defense units that make F-15 fighter jets and missile systems have been on strike since the summer, with the two sides yet to reach a new contract.
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