|
Boeing soars by estimates
|
 |
July 19, 2000: 9:11 a.m. ET
Aircraft company beats 2Q forecast as commercial plane production rebounds
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Aircraft maker Boeing Co. easily soared above Wall Street's second-quarter earnings expectations Wednesday, as rejuvenated production of its commercial planes led the company to boost its revenue and cash flow forecasts for this year and next.
The Seattle-based company earned $654 million, or 75 cents per share, before a non-recurring charge related to the incurred costs of the planned demonstration launch of a Delta III rocket next month.
That marked a 34 percent increase from the $520 million, or 56 cents per share, the company earned during the comparable period last year. Analysts polled by earnings research firm First Call Corp. projected the company would earn 66 cents per share before charges.
Overall revenue for the quarter actually fell for the second consecutive quarter, declining 2 percent to $14.8 billion. The drop reflected a decrease in commercial airplane revenue, although the profit margin for that segment more than doubled during the quarter.
 Boeing's delivery of commercial airplanes still remains about 23 percent behind last year's pace, the result of a 40-day engineering strike during the first quarter. But the company registered about 200 new orders during the quarter, including orders from Southwest Airlines for 94 aircraft, and company officials now believe their production operations are back on track.
"The company's outlook reflects the strength of the commercial airplane market and our continuing overall improved performance," said Phil Condit, Boeing's chairman and chief executive in a prepared statement. "Commercial airplane demand appears stable and we anticipate 2002 deliveries to look similar to 2001."
With that in mind, Boeing raised its full-year revenue projection to $51 billion from $50 billion and boosted its cash flow expectation to between $3 billion and $4 billion from the $2.5 billion it originally forecast.
Should it hit that revenue target, Boeing would still fall below the $58 billion in sales it generated last year.
Through the year's first six months, Boeing has now earned $1 billion, or $1.15 per share, up from the $489 million, or $1.05 per share, it earned a year earlier.
The company also reiterated that it expects its $3.75 billion acquisition of Hughes Electronics Corp. (GMH: Research, Estimates) to close at the end of the third quarter.
Boeing (BA: Research, Estimates) shares fell 5/8 to 44-1/2 in early trading Wednesday morning. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Boeing Co.
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
