Boeing Co (NYSE:BA, ETR:BCO) climbed 6% to $213 after quarterly earnings beat Wall Street expectations but management refrained from giving guidance around expected costs of issues with its 737 Max 9 jets, after a mid-air blowout on an Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) flight this month.
Financial guidance for 2024 was suspended, with some of its planes currently grounded by regulators.
“While we often use this time of year to share or update our financial and operational objectives, now is not the time for that,” CEO Dave Calhoun said in a message to employees.
For the fourth quarter of 2023, the aircraft manufacturer company reported core loss per share of $0.47, which was much less than the Bloomberg consensus of $0.76, mainly driven by better margins in Commercial Airplanes and Global Services, and a lower than expected tax rate.
Revenue of $22 billion was also ahead of analyst forecasts as was free cash flow of $2.9 billion.
Despite the recent freeze on 737 production following the Alaska Airlines incident, Boeing said it reached a production rate of 38 for the 737, up from 31 per month last year.
On 737 inventory, the company said: "While there continues to be uncertainty, we are continuing to work with airlines and government officials on delivery timing and expect to deliver most of the aircraft in inventory by the end of 2024. In the event that we are unable to deliver aircraft consistent with our assumptions, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected."
Analysts at Bank of America said: "Boeing struggling to roll aircraft out of the assembly line beyond low 20s at the end of the year. Also, production at 38 per month could also suggest better than expected rates for the [Federal Aviation Administration] freeze."