Today could have been worse for Boeing (BA) as the beleaguered aerospace company landed some good news, as well as some bad. Investors must have been starving for good news, because they put a lot of weight on it and sent shares blasting up over 4% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
Leading with the bad news, Boeing took another blow in trying to get its Starliner astronauts back home to Earth. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that the duo—Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore—may be on the International Space Station until August…and Starliner itself may not come back.
At last report, the issues plaguing Starliner have gotten worse, as the thruster problems and helium leaks on the vessel. With four out of five thrusters now operational, there are concerns that Starliner won’t be able to achieve the correct angle for re-entry. That may mean that the astronauts will have to come home on the next ship to come up, which will happen in August.
Then the Good News Hit
But there was quite a win for Boeing today. Emirates SkyCargo placed an order for five Boeing 777 freighter craft. Turns out that the 777 freighter is considered “…the industry’s most efficient and capable twin-engine freighter,” according to Boeing.
And that may not be the end of it, either. Word from Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates, is that the airline will be staging “…a full assessment for our future freighter fleet reviewing all aircraft options to ensure we are best equipped to respond to the changing demands of the market…” That, in turn, could open the door for further sales, assuming Boeing is in a position to answer that call by then.
Is Boeing Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 16 Buys, five Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After an 11.62% loss in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $212.05 per share implies 13.68% upside potential.
