Boeing Company (BA) shares climbed Tuesday after the aerospace giant shared updated guidance at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference, giving investors a clearer picture of what's ahead.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Boeing's chief financial officer told the conference that the company plans to boost deliveries of both its 737 and 787 aircraft models in 2026 compared to this year. The key detail here is where those planes are coming from: Boeing expects deliveries will come mainly from ongoing production rather than working through inventory backlog.
The company is targeting certification of the 737 Max 10 toward the end of 2026. That's the timeline everyone's watching, though there's a catch. Some 737 Max 10 aircraft that need rework won't actually reach customers until 2027, so it's not exactly a clean delivery schedule.
On the cash front, Boeing's CFO said free cash flow growth is expected to remain in the low single digits next year. Not exactly fireworks, but progress nonetheless.
This Year's Numbers
For 2025, Boeing reiterated its expectation to deliver 400-450 of the 737 models. That guidance hasn't changed, which is at least reassuring.
What did change, though, is the cash flow outlook. Boeing now forecasts about $2 billion in free cash outflow for 2025, an improvement from the $2.5 billion expected earlier. The company also noted that the financial impact of the Department of Justice penalty will be pushed into 2026 rather than hitting this year.
Spirit Deal Moving Forward
Boeing plans to finalize its acquisition of Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc. (SPR) within this year. The deal has been in the works for a while, and it's starting to look like it'll actually happen.
Back in August, the UK government's Competition and Markets Authority cleared the acquisition, which was valued at $4.7 billion. Under the deal terms, each share of Spirit common stock will be exchanged for a number of Boeing shares, resulting in an equity value of about $37.25 per share.
Other Recent Developments
Last month, Boeing disclosed that it will build AH-64E Apache helicopters for international clients under a U.S. Army Foreign Military Sales contract worth nearly $4.7 billion. Not bad for a company trying to steady the ship.
BA Price Action: BA shares traded up 8.70% at $202.89 at publication on Tuesday.