Boeing (BA) -) shares powered higher Tuesday after the planemaker published better-than-expected September deliveries and noted its order backlog was the largest since before the global Covid pandemic.
Boeing delivered 105 aircraft to customers over the three months ending in September, the company said, including 27 jets in the month of September alone. However, deliveries of is 737 Max aircraft, the popular narrowbody jet, slowed to the lowest levels since August of 2021
The company warned investors in August that the process needed to fix an existing defect in the 737 Max 8 would likely mean full-year deliveries of the workhouse jet would come in at the lower end of its 400 to 450 plane target. So far this year, Boeing has delivered 286 733 planes, including 70 over the third quarter.
Boeing's overall order book grew by 224 plans, with just 10 cancellations, with sales including 150 737 Max jets to European discount carrier Ryanair as part of a $40 billion commitment announced earlier this year and 50 787 Dreamliners to United Airlines (UAL) -) amid a massive bet on the strength of the post-pandemic rebound in global travel.
Looking to the longer term, Ryanair has said it would buy as many as 300 737 Max jets, which carry a list price of around $40 billion if the deal is filled to completion, with deliveries phased between 2027 and 2033.
The group's overall order book now stands at 5,172 planes, the highest since December of 2019, heading into its third quarter earnings report on October 25.
Boeing is still forecast to post another quarterly loss, however, with analysts seeing its bottom line at -$3.07 for the three months ending in September, around half of the -$6.18 it reported over the same period last year.
Group revenues, however, are likely to rise 16% to $18.51 billion, owing to the improvement in overall orders and its ongoing production and delivery improvements.
Boeing shares were marked 3% higher in early afternoon trading following news of the September delivery figures to change hands at $194.04 each, a move that would trim the stock's six-month decline to around 8%.
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