Boeing Q1 Commercial Deliveries Down On Low 737 Jet Demand

The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) recently reported program deliveries across its commercial operations for the first quarter of 2019. The figures show a 19% decline in commercial shipments compared to those in the first quarter of 2018.

Q1 Commercial Aircraft Orders & Deliveries

Boeing reported first-quarter 2019 commercial deliveries of 149 airplanes, down year over year on steep decline in demand for 737 jets. Delivery of the single-aisle 737 jets declined to 89 in the first quarter of 2019 from 132 a year ago.

Shipments of the 777 and 787 Dreamliners totaled 10 and 36 compared with 12 and 34 in the year-ago period, respectively. The company delivered two jets of the 747 variant, which remained flat year over year. For the 767 jets, the company delivered 12 jets in the quarter, up from four in the year-ago quarter.

Analyzing the Deliveries

Being the largest aircraft manufacturer in the commercial space, Boeing continues to witness a solid inflow of contracts from both the U.S. and international airlines, courtesy of its varied product offerings. This is evident from the pivotal contracts acquired by the company from British Airways and Bamboo Airways for delivering 42 jets of the 777 variant and 10 jets of the 787 variant, respectively, in first-quarter 2019.

However, demand for Boeing's 737 jets suffered a setback during the first quarter of 2019, as the company received only 32 new orders for the jet compared with 122 in the year-ago quarter. Further, situation worsened toward the end of the first quarter, when the company’s 737 Max jets were grounded to avoid uncertainties in the wake of a 737 Max 8 jet aircraft crash operated by Ethiopian Airlines that killed all passengers aboard. This marked the second deadly crash in six months involving Boeing’s 737 Max 8.

Price Performance

Shares of Boeing have increased 13.4% in the past 12 months against the industry’s decline of 1.9%.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Boeing currently carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the same sector are Spirit Aerosystems Holdings (NYSE:SPR) , AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) and Heico Corporation (NYSE:HEI) .

While Spirit Aerosystems sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), AeroVironment and Heico carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Spirit Aerosystems’ long-term growth estimates currently stand at 7.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has risen 3.7% to $7.56 in the past 90 days.

AeroVironment’ long-term growth estimates currently stand at 25%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has increased 16.67% to $1.75 in the past 90 days.

Heico Corporation came up with average positive earnings surprise of 4.8% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has increased 2.9% to $2.14 in the past 90 days.

Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year?

Who wouldn't? Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%.

See Latest Stocks Today >>