Shares of Boeing Co. BA rallied 3.7% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the aerospace and defense giant reported a wider-than-expected loss but revenue and free cash flow that beat forecasts, as a beat by the defense, space and security (DSS) business offset a miss by the commercial airplanes business. Net losses narrowed to $414 million, or 69 cents a share, from $1.22 billion, or $2.06 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, core losses per share of $1.27 was wider than that FactSet loss consensus of $1.07. Revenue jumped 28.1% to $17.92 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $17.52 billion. DSS revenue grew 19.3% to $6.54 billion to beat the FactSet consensus of $5.68 billion and commercial airplane revenue soared 59.8% to $6.70 billion but was below expectations of $7.20 billion. Free cash flow was negative $800 million, compared with the FactSet consensus of negative $1.91 billion. “We are progressing through recent supply chain disruptions but remain confident in the goals we set for this year, as well as for the longer term,” said Chief Executive Dave Calhoun. The stock has advanced 6.1% year to date through Tuesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA has tacked on 1.2%.
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