Boeing is scheduled to announce Q1 earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, April 26. Wall Street is looking for a loss of 94.5 cents a share and $17.556 billion in sales. Boeing reported a per-share loss of $2.75 from $14 billion in sales in the first quarter of 2022.
Latest Results
It reported a $1.75 loss per share in Q4, compared with a loss of $7.69 a share in the same period last year, revenue was $19.98 billion, compared with $14.79 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Boeing Deliveries Beat Street Estimates
For the first quarter, Boeing delivered 130 jets overall, a little better than the 120 Wall Street had expected and outpacing the 95 jets it delivered in the first quarter of 2022. That raises the chance Boeing could do something investors would love to see: Beat quarterly earnings estimates.
Wall Street expects Boeing to deliver roughly 575 jets in 2023, up from 480 in 2022. Before the twin problems of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 737 MAX grounding, Boeing had delivered 806 jets in 2018.
Boeing is still working through some of its MAX- and pandemic-related issues. Just beating analysts' loss estimate should be enough for investors. Boeing, after all, has missed Wall Street quarterly estimates in 12 of the past 15 quarters.
That isn't typical on Wall Street -- most companies beat earnings estimates. Investors are hoping the 2023 first quarter could kick off a streak of solid quarterly numbers.
Both Boeing and its rival Airbus (AIR.France) should see more order activity when the Paris Air Show kicks off in June. Airbus, for its part, delivered 61 jets in March and 123 units in the first quarter of 2023. Analysts expect Airbus to deliver 725 jets in 2023, up from 661 delivered in 2022.
Both Boeing and Airbus planes have arrived late to some customers as the world's two largest manufacturers of commercial jets grapple with lingering supply chain and worker training strains from the Covid pandemic.
Boeing 737 Max Manufacturing Issue
Boeing Co.'s recent disclosure that 737 Max production might be hindered by manufacturing issues over parts that help keep the tail on the jets could indicate deeper problems within the jet maker, its suppliers and regulators, BofA analysts said in a note on Monday.
Boeing last week said that the manufacturing issues risked gumming up production and deliveries of "a significant number" of its 737 Max jets. The problem was related to two fittings that help keep the vertical tail on the body of the jet, the BofA analysts said. Boeing said that a supplier had notified them of a "non-standard manufacturing process" used to install the fittings on some 737 models.
The analysts said that any fix for planes yet to built would be easy. But a fix for already assembled fuselages and jets, and for the jets that are already in service, would likely mean a modified fitting, and the installation process would require some degree of FAA clearance.
Analysts’ Opinions
In a report released on April 16, Kenneth Herbert from RBC Capital maintained a Hold rating on Boeing (BA – Research Report), with a price target of $225.00. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $205.03.
In addition to RBC Capital, Boeing also received a Hold from Barclays’s David E. Strauss in a report issued on April 14. However, on April 13, Goldman Sachs assigned a Buy rating to Boeing.