Boeing’s Bumpy Ride: The Giant Soars Back onto the Runway!
2024 was a roller coaster for Boeing, the titanic aerospace powerhouse! From a series of quality control disasters to a catastrophic PR crisis and a full-blown union strike that put the brakes on production, the drama seemed never-ending! But guess what? The dust has settled, and the 33,000 striking mechanics have punched back in, revving up the Boeing assembly lines as we barrel into 2025! Despite slashing its workforce by 10%, with a jaw-dropping $500 billion backlog, Boeing is primed for action!
While Boeing was grounded, Airbus took the opportunity to dominate the skies, delivering over twice as many aircraft—766 to Boeing’s zero during the disastrous strike! But hold on tight; Boeing is storming back and is READY to reclaim its throne!
January Shocker! Boeing Outshines Airbus with Record Deliveries!
In January 2025, strides were made that sent shockwaves through the industry! Boeing delivered a stunning 45 new aircraft, **obliterating** Airbus’s measly 25 deliveries! For the first time since March 2023, Boeing is back on top! United Airlines, Air Lease, and Southwest Airlines are onboard, snagging 40 shiny new Boeing 737 MAX jets. January’s deliveries marked the highest count since December 2023 when Boeing wowed with 105 planes!
But it’s not all smooth skies: just a year prior, chaos erupted with the infamous Alaska Air incident, where a defective door plug blasted off mid-flight, forcing an FAA production cap on MAX jets. Boeing isn’t expected to dodge this cap till late 2025, but with 40 737 MAX planes delivered even amidst adversity, the momentum is building!
Final Quarter Catastrophe? Notorious “Kitchen Sink” Results!
Fasten your seatbelts! On January 20, 2025, Boeing unveiled its Q4 2024 results—**a disaster of epic proportions**! A staggering non-GAAP loss of $5.90 per share shocked Wall Street, **crushing** analyst expectations of a lesser $3.22 loss. Ouch! That’s a whopping miss by $2.68 per share!
Revenue plunged by a **heart-stopping** 30.8% YoY to a mere $15.24 billion. It’s not pretty, folks—#thanksIAMworkstopages! Negative cash flows paint a grim picture, with operating cash flow down by $3.5 billion and free cash flow plummeting to negative $4.1 billion!
Segment Metrics: A Gloomy Disaster with Glimmers of Hope!
Let’s Break Down the Numbers:
The Commercial Airplanes sector fared the worst, suffering a **jaw-dropping** 55% revenue drop YoY to $4.76 billion—yikes! Operating margins nosedived to negative 43.9%. But here’s the silver lining: production for the 737 program resumed in November, with 204 net bookings including a hefty 100 for Pegasus Airlines. Boeing delivered 57 planes and sits on a cozy backlog of more than 5,500 planes valued at nearly $435 billion!
Defense, Space, and Security revenues plummeted 20% YoY to $5.41 billion with **another** negative 41.9% operating margin. But they snagged lucrative contracts, including 15 KC-46A Tankers and seven P-8A Poseidons. Backlog: a roaring $64 billion!
Global Services whispered sweet nothings into the financial ears with a 6% revenue bump YoY to $5.12 billion as the operating margin danced to a 19.5% beat! Exciting upgrades for the U.S. Air Force’s F-15 Japan Super Interceptor are in the pipeline!
With President Trump’s America-first policies benefitting Boeing, they’re soaring high with three domestic plants! But beware—the next 10% tariff on Chinese imports may stir up trouble as Boeing relies on over 10,000 parts from the East! Buckle up, because the sky’s the limit for Boeing, for better or for worse!
