Boeing posts $3.8B Q4 loss and has lost more than $35B since 2019 fatal crashes

WASHINGTON -- Boeing posted a fourth-quarter loss of $3.8 billion on Tuesday as a machinists strike and other problems continued to plague the troubled aircraft manufacturer.

Boeing has lost more than $35 billion since 2019 following the crashes of two then-new Max jets that killed 346 people. For the full year 2024, Boeing logged a loss of $11.8 billion.

The numbers Boeing released are in line with what the company pre-reported last week, including nearly $3 billion worth of charges in the period due to the labor stoppage, job cuts and problems with a number of government programs.

Boeing's loss per share was $5.46 per share, well above the $3.08 loss that Wall Street analysts expected, according to the data firm FactSet.

The fourth quarter caps a rough year for Boeing. A strike by the machinists who assemble the best-selling 737 Max, along with the 777 jet and the 767 cargo plane at factories in Renton and Everett, Washington, halted production at those facilities and hampered Boeing’s delivery capability.

The walkout ended after more than seven weeks when the company agreed to pay raises and improved benefits.

The company reiterated much of what it reported in last week's release, including that it took charges totaling $1.1 billion related to the 777 and 767 programs in the fourth quarter. Boeing took an additional $1.7 billion in charges related to a number of government programs including a military refueling tanker and Air Force One replacement jets.

Boeing said revenue for the fourth quarter totaled $15.2 billion, below analysts’ updated estimate of $15.7 billion, according to FactSet. Full-year revenue came in at $66.5 billion, a 14$ decline from 2023.

As it also reported earlier this month, Boeing said it supplied 348 jetliners last year, more than a third fewer than the 528 the company finished for airlines and leasing outfits in 2023 and less than half the number of jetliners that Airbus delivered last year.

Deliveries are an important source of cash for plane manufacturers since buyers typically pay a large portion of the purchase price when their orders are fulfilled.

More than three-quarters of the planes that Boeing furnished were 737 Max jets, a reminder of how integral its best-selling airline model has been to the company’s fortunes and challenges.

The company had expected to ramp up production in 2024 until a panel called a door plug blew off a 737 Max shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, in early January. In the wake of the incident aboard an Alaska Airlines flight, the Federal Aviation Administration capped production of Max jets until Boeing could convince federal regulators it had corrected manufacturing quality and safety issues.

The hit to the company’s finances and reputation extended to sales of new aircraft. Boeing received no 737 Max orders for at least two months and ended the year far behind Airbus in total net orders for commercial planes, an indicator that factors in cancellations.

Shares of Boeing Co, based in Arlington, Va., nudged up less than 1% before the opening bell.