Boeing shows ops vs cash split

Boeing’s first quarter showed a split investors watch closely: airplane operations improved, but cash and accounting still reflected delivery delays and deal costs. (boeing.com) On April 22, Boeing reported $22.2 billion in revenue, up 14% from a year earlier, on 143 commercial jet deliveries. It posted a net loss of $7 million, narrower than the $31 million loss in the first quarter of 2025. (boeing.com) The cash picture looked different from the income statement. Operating cash flow was negative $179 million and free cash flow was negative $1.45 billion after $1.28 billion of capital spending, versus negative $1.62 billion and negative $2.29 billion a year earlier. (boeing.com) That gap matters because Boeing gets much of its cash when jets are handed over, not when factory work is logged. A quarter with more deliveries can lift revenue and margins, while late-quarter rework, customer payment timing and heavy plant spending can still leave cash flow negative. (boeing.com) The quarter also carried the first full effects of Boeing’s December 8, 2025 acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems, the supplier that builds major fuselage sections for the 737 and 787. Boeing said the deal was meant to strengthen safety, quality and production stability across its commercial supply chain. (boeing.com) In the merger announcement in July 2024, Boeing valued the Spirit transaction at about $8.3 billion including debt. By the first quarter of 2026, the purchase accounting was producing a much larger preliminary goodwill figure of about $10.36 billion, a sign that acquisition accounting can reshape reported results without adding near-term cash. (sec.gov) (bizjournals.com) Boeing’s core factory recovery is still centered on the 737 Max. The company delivered 114 of those jets in the quarter, said total commercial deliveries reached 143, and told investors the 737 line had stabilized at 42 airplanes a month. (boeing.com) (finance.yahoo.com) But even a steadier line was interrupted by rework on about 25 undelivered 737 Max jets after Boeing found scratched wiring caused by a machining error. Reuters reported the repairs slowed some first-quarter deliveries, and Boeing said the issue was not expected to change its full-year delivery target. (newsbreak.com) (flightglobal.com) That helps explain why the quarter looked better on operations than on cash. Boeing ended March with a record $695 billion total backlog, including more than 6,100 commercial airplanes, but turning that backlog into cash still depends on getting finished jets out the door on schedule. (boeing.com) Boeing told investors it still expects to raise 737 production to 47 a month this summer. The next test is whether that higher rate, with Spirit now inside Boeing and the wiring rework behind it, starts to make cash generation look more like the improving delivery numbers. (cnbc.com) (boeing.com)