Boeing posts $695bn backlog
- Boeing said on April 22 that first-quarter revenue rose to $22.2 billion as 143 commercial jet deliveries helped narrow its loss. - The company’s total backlog reached a record $695 billion, including more than 6,100 commercial airplanes, even as free cash flow stayed negative. - Investors are watching whether Boeing can turn higher output into cash after years of safety and production strain. (investors.boeing.com)
Boeing opened 2026 with a record $695 billion backlog, even as it still burned $1.5 billion in free cash flow. (investors.boeing.com) The company reported first-quarter revenue of $22.2 billion on April 22, up 14% from a year earlier, helped by 143 commercial airplane deliveries. Its net loss narrowed to $7 million, from $31 million in the first quarter of 2025. (investors.boeing.com) Boeing said operating cash flow improved to negative $179 million from negative $1.6 billion a year earlier, while core loss per share improved to 20 cents from 49 cents. (investors.boeing.com) The split in the results is straightforward: airlines are still buying planes, but Boeing is still spending heavily to build them, fix factories and raise output. The backlog now includes more than 6,100 commercial airplanes. (investors.boeing.com) That makes production the central question. Boeing’s 737 Max is its main cash generator, and Reuters reported that 114 of the 143 commercial deliveries in the quarter were Max jets. (finance.yahoo.com) Chief executive Kelly Ortberg told CNBC the company is producing 42 Max jets a month and expects to raise that to 47 this summer. Any further increase still needs Federal Aviation Administration approval, a constraint put in place after the January 2024 Alaska Airlines door-plug blowout. (cnbc.com) Boeing also said it expects certification of the delayed 737 Max 7 and Max 10 later in 2026, with deliveries starting in 2027. Those models matter because they fill out the Max family for airline customers that want smaller and larger narrowbody options. (cnbc.com) The quarter also showed Boeing regaining some ground against Airbus. Reuters reported Boeing delivered 143 commercial aircraft in the quarter, compared with Airbus’s 114, the first time Boeing has outdelivered its European rival since about 2019. (finance.yahoo.com) Ortberg said Boeing is “building on our momentum,” but the numbers show a company still in transition: stronger deliveries, a near-breakeven net result, and a cash drain that has not fully closed. The next test is whether that $695 billion backlog starts turning into sustained positive cash flow. (investors.boeing.com)
