Investing.com - Boeing (NYSE:BA) sharply reduced its operating and net losses in the three months through September after a disastrous second quarter of 2020, but warned that its commercial aircraft business in particular remained under severe pressure in the short term and expects lower growth rates in future.
The company reported a net loss per share on core operations of $1.39, better than expectations for a loss of $2.26 and down sharply from a loss of $4.79 in the second quarter, as deliveries of commercial aircraft picked up from rock-bottom levels and the company's 737 MAX edged closer to being cleared for take-off again after two fatal crashes last year.
Revenue fell just short of expectations at $14.1 billion, down 29% on the year, as the pandemic disrupted the company's service and defense operations too.
“The global pandemic continued to add pressure to our business this quarter, and we’re aligning to this new reality by closely managing our liquidity and transforming our enterprise to be sharper, more resilient and more sustainable for the long term,” said Boeing President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun.
Reports in August had suggested that the company plans to cut more than the 16,000 jobs or so that it originally announced back in April as demand from the airline business all but completely dried up.
The company gave no detailed guidance for the fourth quarter or the full year.
Boeing shares are down 52% from the beginning of the year, and down 59% from their 52 week high of $375.60 set on November 18, 2019. They are under-performing the S&P 500 which is up 5% from the start of the year.
Boeing stock had hit a one-month low on Tuesday on fears that a fresh wave of the Coronavirus pandemic would push back even further the day when commercial air travel recovers. However, they rose 1.3% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the report, sharply outperforming the broader market.
"There has been no shortage of bad news for Boeing stock," said Investing.com analyst Haris Anwar. "It’s been caught up in the middle of geopolitical tension between the U.S. and China; its 737 MAX is still grounded, while there is little sign that air traffic is recovering after the pandemic-triggered collapse."
But all this bad news is already reflected in its stock price, Anwar said. "From here, any positive news is going to improve investor perception."
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