Boeing Reports Fourth Quarter Results

Source: Boeing

Fourth Quarter 2024

• Finalized the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) agreement and resumed production across the 737, 767 and 777/777X programs
• Financials reflect previously announced impacts of the IAM work stoppage and agreement, charges for certain defense programs, and costs associated with workforce reductions announced last year
• Revenue of $15.2 billion, GAAP loss per share of ($5.46) and core (non-GAAP)* loss per share of ($5.90)
• Operating cash flow of ($3.5) billion; cash and marketable securities of $26.3 billion

Full Year 2024

• Delivered 348 commercial airplanes and recorded 279 net orders
• Total company backlog grew to $521 billion, including over 5,500 commercial airplanes

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] recorded fourth quarter revenue of $15.2 billion, GAAP loss per share of ($5.46) and core loss per share (non-GAAP)* of ($5.90) (Table 1) primarily reflecting previously announced impacts of the IAM work stoppage and agreement, charges for certain defense programs, and costs associated with workforce reductions announced last year. Boeing reported operating cash flow of ($3.5) billion and free cash flow of ($4.1) billion (non-GAAP)*.

“We made progress on key areas to stabilize our operations during the quarter and continued to strengthen important aspects of our safety and quality plan,” said Kelly Ortberg, Boeing president and chief executive officer. “My team and I are focused on making the fundamental changes needed to fully recover our company’s performance and restore trust with our customers, employees, suppliers, investors, regulators and all others who are counting on us.”

Operating cash flow was ($3.5) billion in the quarter reflecting lower commercial deliveries, as well as unfavorable working capital timing, primarily driven by the IAM work stoppage (Table 2).

Cash and investments in marketable securities totaled $26.3 billion, compared to $10.5 billion at the beginning of the quarter, primarily driven by a $24 billion capital raise partially offset by free cash flow usage and debt repayment in the quarter (Table 3). Debt was $53.9 billion, down from $57.7 billion at the beginning of the quarter, driven by the early repayment of a $3.5 billion bond originally maturing in 2025. The company maintains access to credit facilities of $10.0 billion, which remain undrawn.

Total company backlog at quarter end was $521 billion.

Segment Results

Commercial Airplanes

Commercial Airplanes fourth quarter revenue of $4.8 billion and operating margin of (43.9) percent reflect the previously announced impacts associated with the IAM work stoppage and agreement including lower deliveries and pre-tax charges of $1.1 billion on the 777X and 767 programs (Table 4).

The 737 program resumed production in the quarter and plans to gradually increase production rate. The 787 program exited the year at a production rate of five per month and recently announced plans to expand South Carolina operations. In January, the 777X program resumed FAA certification flight testing, and the company still anticipates first delivery of the 777-9 in 2026.

Commercial Airplanes booked 204 net orders in the quarter, including 100 737-10 airplanes for Pegasus Airlines and 30 787-9 airplanes for flydubai. Commercial Airplanes delivered 57 airplanes during the quarter and backlog included over 5,500 airplanes valued at $435 billion.

Defense, Space & Security

Defense, Space & Security fourth quarter revenue of $5.4 billion and operating margin of (41.9) percent reflect the previously announced pre-tax charges of $1.7 billion on the KC-46A, T-7A, Commercial Crew, VC-25B and MQ-25 programs.

In January, the U.S. Air Force announced an updated acquisition approach for the T-7A Red Hawk that allows the company to provide a production-ready configuration to the customer prior to low-rate initial production, which better supports the operational needs of the customer and reduces future production risk.

During the quarter, Defense, Space & Security captured an award from the U.S. Air Force for 15 KC-46A Tankers, secured an order for seven P-8A Poseidon aircraft from the U.S. Navy, and delivered the final T-7A Red Hawk engineering and manufacturing development aircraft to the U.S. Air Force. Backlog at Defense, Space & Security was $64 billion, of which 29 percent represents orders from customers outside the U.S.

Global Services

Global Services fourth quarter revenue of $5.1 billion and operating margin of 19.5 percent reflect higher commercial volume and mix.

During the quarter, Global Services secured awards for C-17 sustainment and a contract for F-15 Japan Super Interceptor upgrade services from the U.S. Air Force.

Additional Financial Information

Unallocated items, eliminations and other primarily reflects timing of allocations.

Non-GAAP Measures Disclosures

We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America (GAAP) with certain non-GAAP financial information. The non-GAAP financial information presented excludes certain significant items that may not be indicative of, or are unrelated to, results from our ongoing business operations. We believe that these non-GAAP measures provide investors with additional insight into the company’s ongoing business performance. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP measures, and other companies may define such measures differently. We encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure. The following definitions are provided:

Core Operating Earnings/(Loss), Core Operating Margin and Core Earnings/(Loss) Per Share

Core operating earnings/(loss) is defined as GAAP Earnings/(loss) from operations excluding the FAS/CAS service cost adjustment. The FAS/CAS service cost adjustment represents the difference between the Financial Accounting Standards (FAS) pension and postretirement service costs calculated under GAAP and costs allocated to the business segments. Core operating margin is defined as Core operating earnings/(loss) expressed as a percentage of revenue. Core earnings/(loss) per share is defined as GAAP Diluted earnings/(loss) per share excluding the net earnings/(loss) per share impact of the FAS/CAS service cost adjustment and Non-operating pension and postretirement expenses. Non-operating pension and postretirement expenses represent the components of net periodic benefit costs other than service cost. Pension costs allocated to BDS and BGS businesses supporting government customers are computed in accordance with U.S. Government Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), which employ different actuarial assumptions and accounting conventions than GAAP. CAS costs are allocable to government contracts. Other postretirement benefit costs are allocated to all business segments based on CAS, which is generally based on benefits paid. Management uses core operating earnings/(loss), core operating margin and core earnings/(loss) per share for purposes of evaluating and forecasting underlying business performance. Management believes these core measures provide investors additional insights into operational performance as they exclude non-service pension and post-retirement costs, which primarily represent costs driven by market factors and costs not allocable to government contracts. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is provided on page 12 and 13.

Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow is GAAP operating cash flow reduced by capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment. Management believes free cash flow provides investors with an important perspective on the cash available for shareholders, debt repayment, and acquisitions after making the capital investments required to support ongoing business operations and long term value creation. Free cash flow does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures as it excludes certain mandatory expenditures such as repayment of maturing debt. Management uses free cash flow as a measure to assess both business performance and overall liquidity. See Table 2 on page 2 for a reconciliation of free cash flow to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, operating cash flow.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “projects,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “targets,” “anticipates,” and other similar words or expressions, or the negative thereof, generally can be used to help identify these forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include statements relating to our future financial condition and operating results, as well as any other statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions that we believe to be reasonable when made, but that may not prove to be accurate.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from these forward-looking statements. Among these factors are risks related to: (1) general conditions in the economy and our industry, including those due to regulatory changes; (2) our reliance on our commercial airline customers; (3) the overall health of our aircraft production system, production quality issues, commercial airplane production rates, our ability to successfully develop and certify new aircraft or new derivative aircraft, and the ability of our aircraft to meet stringent performance and reliability standards; (4) changing budget and appropriation levels and acquisition priorities of the U.S. government, as well as significant delays in U.S. government appropriations; (5) our dependence on our subcontractors and suppliers, as well as the availability of highly skilled labor and raw materials; (6) work stoppages or other labor disruptions; (7) competition within our markets; (8) our non-U.S. operations and sales to non-U.S. customers; (9) changes in accounting estimates; (10) our pending acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (Spirit), including the satisfaction of closing conditions in the expected timeframe or at all; (11) realizing the anticipated benefits of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures/strategic alliances or divestitures, including anticipated synergies and quality improvements related to our pending acquisition of Spirit; (12) our dependence on U.S. government contracts; (13) our reliance on fixed-price contracts; (14) our reliance on cost-type contracts; (15) contracts that include in-orbit incentive payments; (16) management of a complex, global IT infrastructure; (17) compromise or unauthorized access to our, our customers’ and/or our suppliers’ information and systems; (18) potential business disruptions, including threats to physical security or our information technology systems, extreme weather (including effects of climate change) or other acts of nature, and pandemics or other public health crises; (19) potential adverse developments in new or pending litigation and/or government inquiries or investigations; (20) potential environmental liabilities; (21) effects of climate change and legal, regulatory or market responses to such change; (22) credit rating agency actions and our ability to effectively manage our liquidity; (23) substantial pension and other postretirement benefit obligations; (24) the adequacy of our insurance coverage; and (25) customer and aircraft concentration in our customer financing portfolio.

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

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The Boeing Company and SubsidiariesÂ
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP MeasuresÂ
(Unaudited)

The tables provided below reconcile the non-GAAP financial measures core operating loss, core operating margin, and core loss per share with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures of loss from operations, operating margin, and diluted loss per share. See page 5 of this release for additional information on the use of these non-GAAP financial measures.

Â

The Boeing Company and SubsidiariesÂ
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP MeasuresÂ
(Unaudited)

The tables provided below reconcile the non-GAAP financial measures core operating loss, core operating margin, and core loss per share with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures of loss from operations, operating margin, and diluted loss per share. See page 5 of this release for additional information on the use of these non-GAAP financial measures.