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The Boeing Company (BA), headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services. Valued at $127.6 billion by market cap, the company’s global presence spans over 150 countries, serving top clients like NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and major airlines.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and BA perfectly fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the aerospace & defense industry. With a reputation for delivering high-quality aerospace products, Boeing is a market leader in the industry. Boeing's diversification helps mitigate risks and ensures stability, and its expertise in manufacturing and strong relationships with customers make it a key player in both commercial and defense sectors globally.
Despite its notable strength, BA slipped 22% from its 52-week high of $203.80, achieved on Mar. 8, 2024. Over the past three months, BA stock gained marginally, outperforming the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 5.1% dip during the same time frame.
In the longer term, shares of BA dipped 10.2% on a YTD basis and declined 20.8% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming SPX’s YTD losses of 1.8% and 12.6% returns over the last year.
To confirm the bearish trend, BA is trading below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages recently.
Boeing's underperformance is due to the implementation of tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada, and China, as well as labor strikes. These tariffs could lead to a loss of orders, increased costs for suppliers, and supply chain disruptions. The recent labor strikes also caused delivery delays.
On Jan. 28, BA shares closed up more than 1% after reporting its Q4 results. Its adjusted loss per share of $5.90 fell short of Wall Street expectations of $3.22 per share. The company’s revenue stood at $15.2 billion, down 30.8% year over year.
In the competitive arena of aerospace & defense, Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) has taken the lead over Boeing, showing resilience with a 7.6% decline on a YTD basis and 3.9% uptick over the past 52 weeks.
Wall Street analysts are moderately bullish on BA’s prospects. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from the 25 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $201.43 suggests a potential upside of 26.8% from current price levels.
