Boeing's Loss Narrows But Shares Slide as 737 MAX Ramp-Up Slips Again

Boeing reported a narrower third-quarter loss on Tuesday, but shares fell sharply after the company said it needed more time than expected to stabilize 737 MAX production at higher rates, overshadowing a 4 percent rise in revenue and a record order backlog.

The Arlington, Virginia-based planemaker posted a net loss of $116 million, or $0.26 a share, for the quarter ended in September, compared with a $5.3 billion loss a year earlier, according to results furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. On a core, non-GAAP basis the loss was $0.34 a share, wider than the roughly $0.20 to $0.24 loss analysts had expected, according to earnings-tracking data cited by Investing.com's account of the earnings call.

Revenue came in at $24.2 billion, up from $23.3 billion a year earlier, Boeing said in its official earnings release. Operating cash flow was $1.5 billion, and free cash flow was positive for a second straight quarter at roughly $464 million to $500 million, even after the company absorbed about $700 million in payments tied to a Justice Department settlement over the two 737 MAX crashes.

Key numbers

• Revenue: $24.2 billion, up 4 percent year over year
• Core loss per share: $0.34, versus consensus estimates near $0.20 to $0.24
• Commercial Airplanes: revenue fell 3 percent to $10.7 billion with an operating loss of roughly $697 million
• Defense, Space & Security: revenue rose 15 percent to $7.9 billion, with record segment backlog of $101 billion
• Global Services: revenue rose 4 percent to $5.6 billion, an 18 percent operating margin
• Total company backlog: a record $745 billion, including more than 6,300 commercial jets
• Deliveries: 161 commercial airplanes, the most in a single quarter since 2018

Shares fell roughly 9 to 10 percent in premarket and early trading, dropping from a prior close near $188 toward the $170 range, a move Investing.com and other market trackers attributed largely to the profit miss and the production timeline.

A ramp that keeps slipping

The quarter's central disappointment was the 737 MAX production line. Boeing has spent more than a year trying to lift output from 38 planes a month to 47, a rate the Federal Aviation Administration approved after years of heightened scrutiny following the MAX's two fatal crashes and the 2024 Alaska Airlines door-panel blowout. Chief executive Kelly Ortberg told analysts on the earnings call that the company needs more time to prove it can hold that rate consistently, citing bottlenecks in wing-component supply that have slowed the climb.

"It is taking us longer than we had expected to demonstrate performance at Rate 47," Ortberg said on the earnings call, according to Investing.com's transcript of the discussion.

As a result, Boeing will fall short of its goal of roughly 500 737 deliveries for 2026, and the next step up, to a rate of 52 a month, has been pushed back to the second half of 2027. The company did win a regulatory victory during the quarter: the FAA granted amended type certification to the 737-10 in October, clearing the way for Boeing to begin delivering the largest MAX variant after years of delay, a milestone confirmed in Boeing's own release.

The long-delayed 777X widebody remains another source of uncertainty. Boeing originally planned to bring the twin-aisle jet into service in 2020; repeated redesign and certification setbacks have pushed that back by seven years, and the company took a $4.9 billion pre-tax charge on the program in October 2025 when it last moved first delivery to 2027. Management said on Tuesday's call that first delivery is still targeted for 2027, with certification assumed around mid-year, and that a built-in schedule cushion should protect the company's 2027 free-cash-flow guidance of roughly $3 billion even if the jet slips later in the year.

Defense and services carry the quarter

While commercial aircraft dragged on results, Boeing's defense business was a bright spot. Defense, Space & Security revenue climbed 15 percent to $7.9 billion and turned a profit, helped by what the company described as improving program execution. The unit's backlog hit a record $101 billion, and Boeing noted it was selected by the U.S. Navy to design and build the F/A-XX next-generation fighter, an award not yet reflected in the backlog figure. The Global Services unit, which handles maintenance and parts for airlines and militaries, posted an 18 percent operating margin on $5.6 billion of revenue.

The mixed results land in the middle of a years-long effort by Ortberg, who took over as chief executive in 2024, to stabilize a company battered by manufacturing lapses, regulatory restrictions and a seven-week machinists' strike in 2024. Boeing still carries $45.9 billion in consolidated debt against $20.7 billion in cash and marketable securities, a balance sheet the company has said it wants to repair gradually as production normalizes rather than through further equity raises.

What's next

Boeing's near-term targets now hinge on proving the MAX line can sustain 47 planes a month without further slippage, securing 777X certification on schedule, and converting its record order backlog into deliveries without new quality lapses. Analysts had already issued a string of downward estimate revisions in the weeks before the report, and Tuesday's share slide suggests investors remain skeptical that the turnaround is on a smooth trajectory even as the headline numbers improve year over year. Boeing's next scheduled update will come when it reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results in early 2027, when the company is expected to detail whether it still expects to approach its 500-jet delivery target and whether the 52-per-month MAX rate remains on track for late 2027.