Boeing stock soared on Wednesday to notch its best single-day advance in more than two years after the Dow Jones aerospace manufacturer provided an operations update.
Boeing CFO Brian West on Wednesday at the Bank of America Global Industrials Conference said the company is "broadly tracking" to hit first-quarter expectations, according to reports. West added that Boeing's Q1 earnings per share will include a one-time expense of $150 million. He also said that Boeing was seeing less working capital drag, which could improve free cash flow by several "hundreds of millions" by quarter close.
"So, we think we're off to a good start to the year," he said. Meanwhile, production appears to be in "fantastic" shape, targeting completion of 38 units of the 737 Max planes per month. Output for the 787 Dreamliner is stabilizing at five planes per month, and is poised to move higher, according to Bloomberg.
West said that March aircraft deliveries should be in line with February's numbers. Boeing last month delivered 44 aircraft, up nearly 63% from the same period last year. The deliveries included 32 of the 737 line of planes and five 787 aircraft.
Elsewhere, Wells Fargo on Tuesday raised its price target on Boeing stock by 10 to 113. The firm now estimates free cash flow of $7 billion to $8 billion in 2027, below the consensus of $9 billion. Boeing in 2022 said it expects to hit $10 billion in free cash flow by 2027. But since that time, defense has deteriorated, interest rates are higher, the 777x program is suffering from issues and union contracts are adding costs, analyst Matthew Akers wrote in a research note reported by The Fly.
Wells Fargo kept an underweight rating on the shares.
Boeing Stock
Boeing stock popped 6.8% Wednesday, marking its best daily gain since July 26, 2023, when the stock jumped 8.7%.
BA stock rebounded above support at its 200-day moving average, and narrowly cleared its 50-day line. Still, shares are down 2.5% this year.
Boeing stock has a 21-Day ATR% of 3.69.
The average true range is a metric available on IBD's MarketSurge charting tool. It gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior. Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily action, the kind that can trigger sell rules and shake investors out of a stock, have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more incremental moves have lower ATRs.
In the current, unpredictable market, IBD suggests stocks with ATRs of 3 or below.
RTX stock rose 2% Wednesday. Shares are trading in a buy zone, above a 128.70 buy point for a cup base.
RTX shares have advanced 17% in 2025.
RTX has a 21-Day ATR% of 2.12.
Rival GE Aerospace also climbed 2.4%. GE stock on Jan. 23 broke out above a 194.80 buy point for a consolidation. Shares rallied 23% this year.
GE Aerospace's ATR is 2.91%.
Howmet Aerospace swung 2.9% higher Wednesday, adding to its 20% gain this year.
HWM stock has an ATR of 4.09%.
