Boeing on Wednesday posted its sixth consecutive quarterly loss as the pandemic continues to weigh on jetliner demand but said it expects 2021 to be a turning point as more people are vaccinated.
Here are the numbers:
- Loss per share: $1.53 adjusted. Analysts had expected a per-share loss of $1.16, according to Refinitiv, but it’s unclear if the numbers are comparable.
- Revenue: $15.22 billion vs. $15.02 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
The plane manufacturer had a net loss of $561 million for the first three months of 2021 on revenue of $15.2 billion, 10% lower than last year but ahead of analysts’ estimates.
On an adjusted per-share basis, Boeing lost $1.53, a narrower loss than the adjusted $1.70 per share loss it reported a year ago. The company reported a $318 million pretax charge related to issues with a supplier in its modified 747 plane used as Air Force One.
Boeing shares were down more than 1% in premarket trading after it reported results.
Boeing has been struggling from the pandemic’s impact on travel and aircraft sales as well as the extended grounding of its best-selling 737 Max aircraft after two fatal crashes killed 346 people. Regulators started lifting the grounding in November 2020.
Revenue in its commercial airplane unit fell 31% from a year ago to $4.27 billion though deliveries for new planes rose to 77 from 50. Boeing also logged new sales from customers like United and Southwest Airlines to return to plans to update their fleets and prepare for growth. In March, Boeing’s new aircraft orders outpaced cancellations for the first time since 2019.
Boeing reiterated its forecast to increase production of the 737 Max to 31 a month in early 2022 and its estimate to deliver its first 777X wide-body jet in late 2023.
Boeing last month resumed deliveries of its wide body 787 planes after reporting production problems last year but sales have been slow with long-haul international travel still down sharply in the pandemic.
In a presentation, the company cited the pace of vaccinations and infection rates, U.S.-China relations and remaining 737 Max regulatory approvals, such as in China, among the the risks to demand for aircraft.
“While the global pandemic continues to challenge the overall market environment, we view 2021 as a key inflection point for our industry as vaccine distribution accelerates and we work together across government and industry to help enable a robust recovery,” CEO Dave Calhoun said in the earnings release.
Boeing last week raised Calhoun’s retirement age by five years to 70 and announced its CFO and longtime executive Greg Smith, who was seen as a successor, will retire this summer.
Boeing shares are up about 13% this year as of Tuesday’s close, compared with an 11.5% gain in the S&P 500.
Boeing executives are set to discuss results on a 10:30 a.m. ET call.
Investors will be looking for Boeing’s outlook on the pace of aircraft deliveries, which are key because airlines and other customers pay the bulk of a plane’s price when manufacturers hand them over.
The Chicago-based company is also likely to provide an update on the grounding of some 737 Max jetliners due to electrical issues.
