We all likely remember the lengthy strike that hit aerospace stock Boeing (BA) back in September of last year. And after that, you would think that Boeing would be particularly careful not to annoy the union. But that was not the case, as the union is already investigating Boeing itself. But investors were unfazed, and sent Boeing shares up nearly 2% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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The word out of Reuters says that Boeing’s engineering union is looking into Boeing moving work to “non-union” locations. Not just non-union areas in the United States, either, but also overseas. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) started a formal investigation back in December, and has already requested some new information from Boeing.
This dovetails with earlier reports of downsizing at Boeing, and the SPEEA is concerned that the next to be downsized could be union workers. Indeed, 660 SPEEA members found themselves targeted by layoffs, though over 4,000 total notices were issued at Boeing, the report noted.
Air Force One as a Quality Metric
Meanwhile, a report from Bloomberg noted that Elon Musk is taking a closer look at Boeing. Not to buy it, but rather because Air Force One is currently on Boeing’s production schedule. Sadly, Air Force One is actually several years behind schedule, and that prompted Musk to head out and inspect the new plane. But Air Force One is not just several years late. It is also $2.7 billion over budget.
With Musk having posted on X just recently, however, that Boeing is “…on a much better track” after swapping out CEOs in favor of Kelly Ortberg, that could be a welcome sign that Boeing could be more in favor with Washington. But there are certainly several pitfalls remaining for Ortberg to handle, and how the latest meeting with Musk goes could spell out how the next few months look for Boeing.
Is Boeing a Good Stock to Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 15 Buys, five Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 16.85% loss in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $196.21 per share implies 10.24% upside potential.
