Boeing Q1 Deliveries Top Airbus for First Time in Nearly 5 Years; Stock Gains

A big month of orders in March and a comeback in demand for its 737 Max have Boeing nudging ahead of Airbus for the first time in nearly five years.

Boeing  (BA) - Get Free Report shares traded higher Tuesday after the planemaker posted first-quarter delivery figures that topped its main rival, Airbus, for the first time in nearly five years.

Boeing said it delivered 64 planes in March, taking its first-quarter tally to 130 aircraft, just ahead of the 127 total reported by Airbus  (EADSY) - Get Free Report. The Q1 figures included 113 of its 737 Max and 11 units of its wide-body 787 Dreamliner.  

Boeing delivered 480 planes last year, a 41% increase from 2021 levels, while winning orders for at least 774 new jets, a tally that still trails market-leader Airbus.

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Boeing's order book has also seen some impressive gains so far this year, including the first-ever sale of its workhorse 737 Max jets to Japan Airlines late last month.

JAL said it would buy 21 of the narrow-body 737 aircraft, at a list price of around $2.5 billion, with the aim of adding the planes to its expanding fleet by the year 2026. 

The deal also represents a major win for Boeing over its European rival, Airbus, which had been courting JAL with its A320neo narrowbody jet.

Boeing has received commitments for the sale of more than 200 787 Dreamliners over the past two months. Those include a $37 billion deal with Saudi Arabia in March and a long-reported deal to sell nearly 300 jets to Air India, Asia's largest commercial carrier.

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The planemaker's overall aircraft order book totals around 4,555 aircraft and approaches $500 billion in value. Further details are expected when the group posts its first-quarter earnings before the market opens on April 26.

Boeing shares were marked 0.88% higher in midday trading to change hands at $212.62 each, a move that would extend the stock's year-to-date gain to around 11.5%.

Earlier this year, Boeing repeated its forecast for operating cash flows of between $4.5 billion and $6.5 billion, with free cash flow of between $3 billion and $5 billion, following a surprise fourth-quarter loss.

Boeing said its adjusted core loss for the three months ended in December was pegged at $1.75 a share even as revenue rose 35% from a year earlier to $19.98 billion.

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