Here's what the latest pickup in Boeing deliveries means for investors
Boeing picked up the pace of plane deliveries last month, an encouraging signal for the metric that investors care most about in its turnaround. The planemaker announced Tuesday that 47 jets were delivered in April, one...
$4,200-$4,600 — Gold (GC) Where to settle in June?
An important development from the financial markets: Boeing picked up the pace of plane deliveries last month, an encouraging signal for the metric that investors care most about in its turnaround. The planemaker announced Tuesday that 47 jets were delivered in April, one more than in March. This number would be even higher if not for customer requirements that shifted some deliveries to May, the company said.
"Another month of solid jet deliveries show Boeing's turnaround is progressing," said Jeff Marks, the Investing Club's director of portfolio analysis. The numbers show Boeing is headed in the right direction for improving free cash flow (FCF) – the best way to grade the company's financial health at this stage of CEO Kelly Ortberg's rehabilitation efforts. That's because deliveries are when customers actually hand over most of the cash for aircraft.
Economic Details
Boeing expects to generate between $1 billion to $3 billion of free cash flow in 2026, following back-to-back years of burning cash. The company still used up more cash than it brought in during the first quarter. However, CFO Jay Malave said last month that FCF should improve in the April-to-June period before turning positive in the second half of the year.
As Boeing's cash generation improves and becomes more positive consistently, earnings should follow suit. Increasing its rate of production puts Boeing in a position to deliver more planes. Boeing is currently making 42 per month of its best-selling 737 Max jets after regulators in October gave the company permission to up its output.
Boeing hopes to secure approval to expand to 47 per month this summer. The Federal Aviation Administration has curtailed Boeing's production of the 737 Max since the January 2024 Alaska Airlines door plug incident , which underscored its long-running quality control problems. Ortberg took over as CEO in August 2024 to fix these issues.
Analyst Views
Shares of Boeing fell 1% Tuesday. The jump in oil prices may be behind some of the move in Boeing and its aerospace peers. A broad basket of airlines and planemakers, the U.
Global Jets ETF , was down about 1. BA YTD mountain Boeing (BA) year to date performance Boeing also booked 135 net new orders in April, nearly meeting the entirety of the first three months of 2026. This brings Boeing's new orders after adjusting for cancellations to 284 for the year.
That's the company's highest in 12 years for the four-month period. Tuesday's announcement comes as Boeing's Ortberg joins President Donald Trump and a handful of other big-name CEOs for a trip to China this week. Trump is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday and Friday.
Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.
