It might have been a cause for alarm that Boeing (BA) was legally constrained from building more than a comparative handful of planes every month. But investors are taking it in strides, as apparently so are Boeing’s customers. The aerospace company’s shares were up over 4% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading as a result. Out at the Farnborough Airshow, orders flew thick and fast for more Boeing planes.
They also hit Boeing’s immediate rival, Airbus (EADSY), with full force despite a growing issue of supply chain problems and delivery delays throughout the industry.
Boeing managed to land new deals with Qatar Airways and Macquarie Airfinance. In fact, Qatar was looking to place a “sizeable” order starting in late 2024 or early 2025. Moreover, delays are just becoming part of business operations as both Boeing and Airbus have backlogs that will take several years to work through. That’s left airlines struggling to enjoy a travel boom that’s now apparently starting to fade as inflation-driven price hikes on everything stick around.
A Rising Interest Elsewhere
The Farnborough show also featured other planes from other makers, but nothing made quite the splash that Boeing did. Smaller planes, including electric models that apparently looked like “drones on steroids,” were in play. With Boeing and Airbus pretty much maxed out, it’s a good opportunity for smaller players to pick up the slack.
Airbus looked to seize some of that business with its new A321XLR. The new model looks to take advantage of a market Boeing itself passed on that would have been addressed by the 757. That loss will likely come back to haunt Boeing in the future as Airbus cleans up on a market Boeing could have enjoyed.
Is Boeing Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 16 Buys, five Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 13.94% loss in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $215.84 per share implies 15.61% upside potential.
