It has not been a good run of things for aerospace company Boeing (NYSE:BA) lately. Its airplanes are having significant quality issues, regulators are breathing down their necks, and now, its space aspirations are crumbling. The weekend proved terrible for launching its Starliner craft, but investors didn’t seem all that concerned. In fact, Boeing shares gained over 3% in Monday afternoon’s trading despite yet another rescheduled launch.
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Boeing was poised to finally launch its Starliner vessel into orbit over the weekend. A series of malfunctions, however, kicked in, and the launch was pushed back from Saturday, June 1, to Sunday, June 2. However, the June 2 launch was also scrubbed, citing a “ground support equipment issue” that got in the way.
Now, Boeing has once again pushed back the launch to June 5 at 10:52 a.m. Eastern time. Reports suggest that Boeing ultimately figured out the problem—a faulty “ground power unit,” which was subsequently replaced—and now could schedule that latest launch, which may have the best chance yet of going forward.
Maybe This Is a Sign…
This is not the first time that Boeing has held off on a Starliner launch. There were four total attempts to launch in May, and the two that started in June will be followed by another one on Wednesday. In fact, after all these false starts and unexpected stops, some are starting to wonder if maybe Boeing should just abandon its space travel hopes and get back to focusing on planes.
In fact, reports suggest that Boeing’s space wing—which includes defense and security—has posted full-year losses for the last two years running now. And given how this year is going so far, it’s not exactly looking like it will return to profitability.
Is Boeing Stock a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 17 Buys, seven Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 12.66% loss in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $216.96 per share implies 18.61% upside potential.
