Good news for aerospace stock Boeing (BA) today, and it is pure, unalloyed good news, too. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has officially cleared Boeing to return to 42 737 MAX planes per month, a development Boeing has been looking for as part of an ongoing plan to get its production back up. The news was welcome to shareholders as well, who sent Boeing shares up nearly 2% in Monday afternoon’s trading.
Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
- Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.
Boeing was originally stuck at 38 planes per month, reports noted, but the new word from the FAA hikes that number to its current level, 42. What finally pushed Boeing over the edge, according to a report from the FAA itself, was a safety inspection back on Friday. Inspectors “…conducted extensive reviews of Boeing’s production lines to ensure that this small production rate increase will be done safely.”
Boeing, not surprisingly, thanked the FAA and its team and suppliers for getting production back up to snuff and to the point where it can fill some of those huge new orders that President Trump brought in as part of various trade deals over the last several months.
Back to the Table
Meanwhile, Boeing is also getting back to the table in St. Louis, with plans to restart contract negotiations backed up by a federal mediator. Last week, strikers filed a claim with the government against Boeing, citing a lack of good-faith negotiations. Well, that must have hit harder than some might have expected, because Boeing is back to the table.
The strike recently cleared the 75-day mark, and deliveries on some Boeing aircraft—particularly the F-15EX fighter—have been delayed. But with Boeing’s only real alternative the hiring of replacement workers, a process that can take months for security clearances, one wonders how well that can go. Still, with Boeing going back to the table, there may be more going on behind the scenes than we can see immediately.
Is Boeing a Good Stock to Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 14 Buys and two Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 33.24% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $255.77 per share implies 17.99% upside potential.
