Boeing profit up on plane deliveries
Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) reported a greater-than-expected 38 percent jump in first-quarter profit on Wednesday as increased deliveries of its commercial planes offset a dip in military sales, and manufacturing operations became more efficient.
The Chicago-based company, which vies with EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) unit Airbus in the lucrative jetliner market, kept its full-year profit target unchanged and forecast next year’s earnings in line with Wall Street estimates, despite problems getting its new 787 Dreamliner in the air.
Boeing, which is also the Pentagon’s No. 2 supplier, reported quarterly profit of $1.2 billion, or $1.62 per share, compared with $877 million, or $1.13 per share, a year earlier.
The results easily beat Wall Street’s average earnings forecast of $1.36 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Boeing shares rose 2.7 percent to $80.71 in early New York Stock Exchange trading payday loans. At Tuesday’s close, they had fallen 27 percent since last July, dogged by 787 delays.
“It’s pretty amazing they beat consensus by 20 percent,” said Paul Nisbet at aerospace specialists JSA Research. “The high rate of operating margin was a big jump — the volume is beginning to pay off. With the high demand for aircraft, they are getting good prices.”
Operating margin at the commercial plane unit jumped nearly 3 percentage points to 12 percent, as Boeing’s massive manufacturing operations became more efficient as the company works through a record order book. Its defense unit operating margin rose slightly to 11.4 percent.
Boeing now has an unprecedented $271 billion worth of commercial planes on its order book, pumped up by a three-year boom in aircraft sales. It also has $75 billion worth of defense orders.