Boeing (BA) finally gave Wall Street a quarter with more free cash flow than expected. Investors dumped the stock anyway, because the company still can’t get its planes out the door fast enough.
Boeing (BA) stock fell nearly 11% Tuesday, its worst day since June 2020, and closed at its lowest level since April 2025. It hit a new 52-week low on more than four times its usual volume and is now down more than a fifth this year. (For more on the quarter, see our earnings live blog.)
The third quarter itself was mixed. Revenue of about $24 billion and free cash flow of $464 million both topped Bloomberg estimates. But the core loss of $0.34 per share was wider than the $0.21 analysts expected, and the commercial jet unit lost about $700 million, roughly twice the forecast.
That unit’s sales “were in line, but margin came in [about] 280 bps light due to cost growth,” JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman wrote in a note. In other words, its profit margin came in almost 3 percentage points short.
The bigger problem is time.
The stock sell-off deepened as Boeing laid out its production plans on the earnings call. The 737 will stay at 47 jets per month into next year, with the step up to 52 not coming until the second half of 2027. Boeing now expects to fall about 500 short on its 737 deliveries this year, and engine supply is setting the pace for 787 output.
Demand isn’t the issue. Boeing’s backlog hit a record $745 billion, including more than 6,300 jets.
The commercial jet business has made money in just one of the past 18 quarters. Analysts still expect it to get close to break-even by early 2027, a goal that now rests on a slower ramp.
The stock has mostly traded between about $150 and $250 since 2020, with $210 as the first potential ceiling on any rebound.
Boeing’s October delivery numbers, due next month, will show whether the 737 line is holding at 47 a month.
Internal AI tools helped analyze interview transcripts, research, and draft this post. Humans reviewed, edited, and fact-checked this post before publication.
Follow Jared Blikre on X @SPYJared or email him at jaredblikre@yahooinc.com.
