Boeing Reports Lower Loss, but Trade War Threats Loom
The company lost $31million in the first quarter of this year. This was less than analysts expected. In the same period last year, the company lost more than $350 million.
Boeing’s most recent crisis began when a poorly installed panel blew away from a relatively new plane during a flight in January 2024. The company delivered 130 planes during the first quarter of 2018, up from 83 planes during the same period last year. It also secured a contract to build the Air Force’s newest fighter jet, the F-47 and brought in $19.5 billion in revenue during the quarter, 18 percent more than last year.
“There is a lot of good work happening across our teams, and we are seeing positive results,” Boeing’s chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, said in a message to employees, describing 2025 as “our turnaround year.”
Boeing’s share price was up 6 percent Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, the company announced plans to sell several digital businesses for $10.5 billion to Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm.
“This was a good quarter for Boeing,” said Peter McNally, global head of sector analysts at Third Bridge, a research firm. Boeing’s share price was up 6 percent Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, the company announced plans to sell several digital businesses for $10.5 billion to Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm. Ortberg, who joined Boeing in the summer of 2016, wants to refocus on the company’s core business, which is making planes. He told analysts in a conference call on Wednesday that the monthly production of Boeing’s best selling plane, the 737 Max was in the low-30s, up from low to mid-20s production in January. It should reach 38 within the next few month. Mr. Ortberg stated that Boeing would seek approval for 42 planes per monthly production later this year. Boeing’s commercial jet orders are valued at $460 billion. The company’s commercial jet orders are valued at $460 billion.
The company’s efforts to recover from last year’s crisis and other disruptions could be stymied by Mr. Trump’s trade policies, which include a 10 percent tariff on nearly all imports and even higher levies on goods from China, whose airlines buy a lot of planes.
Chinese customers have stopped taking deliveries in reaction to the high tariffs, Mr. Ortberg said on the call. The Chinese were scheduled to receive 50 planes worth over $1 billion this year. Boeing may redirect these planes if delivery freeze continues. Cirium, a firm that provides aviation data, estimates that China is home to one in seven passenger aircraft in use today. Boeing delivered a similar number of planes to China over the last decade, but that share has slowed down in recent years. Boeing said last summer that it expected China would need about 8,800 new planes over the next two decades.
While China is pumping money into a homegrown aircraft manufacturer, Comac, the country still relies heavily on Western companies for aerospace parts and expertise. Experts say it will be years before Comac produces large numbers of planes. GE Aerospace, a second engine maker, also said that it expected $500 million of tariff costs this year. Boeing pays 10 percent tariffs for wide-body aircraft imported from Japan and Italy. However, the company expects that it will recover these costs when the planes sell, according to Mr. Ortberg. Mr. Ortberg is also working to change Boeing’s culture. This has been blamed on shortcuts leading to the company’s current problems. Last week, Boeing released the results of an employee survey which found that only 67 percent of employees were proud to work at the company. This is down from 91 per cent in 2013.
