Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) Posts Wider Q1 Loss, Beats on Revenues

Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:SPR) Holdings, Inc. SPR incurred first-quarter 2021 adjusted loss of $1.22 per share, which was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate’s loss of 93 cents. The bottom line, moreover, deteriorated from the year-ago quarter’s loss of 79 cents.

Including one-time adjustments, the company reported a GAAP loss of $1.65 per share compared with a loss of $1.57 in the year-ago quarter.

Highlights of the Release

Total revenues of $900.8 million exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $859 million by 4.9%. However, the top line declined 16% from $1,077 million on a year-over-year basis. The downside was primarily due to the significantly lower widebody production rates due to reduced international air traffic resulting from the impacts of COVID-19 as well as lower production rates on the Airbus A320 program.

Backlog at the end of first-quarter 2021 was $33 billion compared with $42 million at the end of 2020.

Segment Performance

Fuselage Systems: Revenues in the segment declined 20.7% year over year to $437.1 million in first-quarter 2020, primarily due to lower production volumes on the Boeing (NYSE:BA) 777, 787 and Airbus A350 programs.

Operating loss for the first quarter of 2021 decreased to $59.8 million from the operating loss of $86.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Propulsion Systems: The segment recorded revenues of $226.5 million in the reported quarter, up 0.6% year over year. The upside can be attributed to increased revenues from the 737 MAX program and aftermarket sales.

Operating income for the first quarter of 2021 amounted to $16.7 million against the operating loss of $5.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Wing Systems: Revenues in the segment decreased 23.3% year over year to $223.6 million in the first quarter. The decline can be primarily attributed to lower production volumes on the Boeing 787, Airbus A320 and A350 programs.

Operating loss for the first quarter of 2021 decreased to $18.9 million against the operating income of $13.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

Spirit Aerosystems Holdings, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Spirit Aerosystems Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Spirit Aerosystems Holdings, Inc. Quote

Operational Highlights

Total operating costs and expenses declined 17.5% year over year to $1026.7 million on account of lower cost of sales; selling, general and administrative expenses; restructuring costs, as well as reduced research and development expenses.

The company incurred an operating loss of $125.9 million in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the operating loss of $167.5 million in the prior-year quarter.

Financial Position

As of Apr 2, 2021, Spirit AeroSystems had $1,359.3 million of cash and cash equivalents compared with $1,873.3 million as of Dec 31, 2020.

At the end of first-quarter 2021, long-term debt totaled $3,525.2 million compared with $3,532.9 million at the end of 2020.

Cash outflow from operating activities was $170.2 million at the end of first-quarter 2021 compared with the cash outflow of $331.3 million at the end of 2020.

Zacks Rank

Spirit AeroSystems currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Defense Releases

Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT reported first-quarter 2021 earnings of $6.56 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.32 by 3.8%.

Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) Corporation HXL reported first-quarter 2021 loss of 10 cents per share, which was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 16 cents.

Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX) Corporation’s RTX first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share of 90 cents outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 88 cents by 2.3%.

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