Boeing posts loss as it grapples with delays on commercial and defense programs

Boeing reported a wider adjusted loss and lower revenue than analysts expected as the company faced higher costs on both commercial and defense aircraft.

The manufacturer said it will pause production of its 777X plane, which has not yet been certified by U.S. regulators, through 2023. Boeing also doesn’t expect deliveries of the plane to start until 2025, more than a year later than it previously forecast.

Boeing shares were down more than 2% in in premarket trading after reporting results Wednesday morning.

Here’s how Boeing performed in the first quarter compared with analysts’ estimates complied by Refinitiv:

• Adjusted results: A core loss of $2.75 a share vs. an expected loss of 27 cents a share.
• Revenue: $13.99 billion vs. $16.02 billion, expected.

Boeing has enjoyed a resurgence in demand for its 737 Max plane, which returned to service in late 2020 after two fatal crashes. But production problems and certification delays have hampered other aircraft programs.

“Through our first-quarter results, you’ll see we still have more work to do; but I remain encouraged with our trajectory, and we are on track to generate positive cash flow for 2022,” Boeing’s CEO David Calhoun said in a note to employees Wednesday. “We are a long-cycle business, and the success of our efforts will be measured over years and decades; not quarters.”

The company said it’s ramping up 737 Max output to 31 a month in the second quarter. It delivered 95 planes in the first quarter up from 77 from the same period last year.

Boeing reported negative operating cash flow for the quarter, but still expects to be cash-flow positive in 2022.

Boeing shares are down 17% so far this year through Tuesday’s close, outpacing the S&P 500‘s 12.4% drop.

The manufacturer’s executives will hold a call with analysts at 10:30 a.m. ET.

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