Shares of Boeing Co.
BA,
edged 0.2% higher in premarket trading Wednesday, after the aerospace and defense giant reported fourth-quarter results that beat expectations, amid strength in its commercial airplanes business. The company did not provide a 2024 outlook. Net losses narrowed to $2.22 billion, or $3.67 a share, from $4.94 billion, or $8.30 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as pension-related costs, core per-share losses of 47 cents beat the FactSet loss consensus of 78 cents. Revenue grew 10.2% to $22.02 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $21.14 billion. Among Boeing’s business segments, commercial airplanes revenue increased 13.1% to $10.48 billion to beat the FactSet consensus of $9.98 billion, and defense, space and security revenue was up 9.1% to $6.75 billion, above expectations of $6.16 billion. Free cash flow of $3.0 billion was well above the FactSet consensus of $1.91 billion. “The company continues to cooperate transparently with the FAA following the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident involving a 737-9,” Boeing said in a statement. The stock has tumbled 23.1% in January through Tuesday, due to safety-related groundings of its 737 aircraft, but has gained 7.3% over the past three months. In comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
has rallied 16.4% the past three months.
