Boeing (BA) Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Decline Y/Y

The Boeing Company BA incurred an adjusted loss of $7.69 per share for fourth-quarter 2021, much wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 9 cents. However, the bottom line improved from the year-ago quarter’s loss of $15.25.

Including one-time items, the company posted a GAAP loss of $7.02 per share compared with a loss of $14.65 incurred in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The year-over-year improvement can be attributed primarily to lower charges and higher commercial volume witnessed in the reported quarter.

For 2021, the company reported an adjusted loss of $9.44 per share, which came in wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.70. The bottom line declined from 2020’s adjusted loss of $23.25 per share.

The Boeing Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

The Boeing Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

The Boeing Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | The Boeing Company Quote

Revenues

In the quarter under review, Boeing’s revenues amounted to $14.79 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.96 billion by 12.8%. The top line fell 3% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $15.30 billion.

This decline was due to lower year-over-year revenues registered by the company’s Defense, Space & Security business unit.

For 2021, the company recorded revenues of $62.29 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $64.52 billion by 3.5%. However, full-year revenues improved from 2020’s $58.16 billion.

Total Backlog

Backlog at the end of fourth-quarter 2021 increased to $377.50 billion from $363.40 billion at the end of 2020.

Segmental Performances

Commercial Airplane: Revenues at this segment remained flat year over year at $4.75 billion. Higher 737 deliveries boosted revenues, which was offset by lower widebody deliveries and less favorable mix. The segment incurred an operating loss of $4.45 billion compared with a loss of $7.65 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Boeing delivered 99 commercial planes during the quarter under review, down 68% year over year.

Backlog for this segment remained healthy with over 4,200 airplanes valued at $297 billion.

Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS): This segment recorded revenues worth $5.86 billion in the fourth quarter, reflecting year-over-year decline of 14%, primarily driven by lower volume and less favorable performance across the portfolio.

Meanwhile, this unit incurred an operating loss of $255 million, against an operating income of $502 million in the year-ago quarter.

Backlog at BDS was $60 billion, 33% of which comprised orders from international clients.

Global Services: Revenues at this segment improved 15% to $4.29 billion on account of higher commercial services volume and favorable mix. This unit generated operating income of $401 million compared with $143 million in the year-ago quarter.

Boeing Capital Corporation (BCC): This segment reported quarterly revenues of $63 million compared with $56 million in the year-ago quarter.

At the end of fourth-quarter 2021, BCC's portfolio balance was $7 billion.

Financial Condition

Boeing exited 2021 with cash and cash equivalents of $8.05 billion, and short-term and other investments of $8.19 billion. At the end of 2020, the company had $7.75 billion of cash and cash equivalents, and $17.84 billion of short-term and other investments. Long-term debt amounted to $56.81 billion at the end of 2021, down from $61.89 billion at 2020 end.

The company’s operating cash outflow at the end of 2021 was $3.42 billion compared with $18.41 billion at the end of 2020.

Free cash outflow totaled $4.40 billion at the end of 2021 end compared with $19.71 billion at the end of 2020.

Zacks Rank

Boeing currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Defense Releases

Lockheed Martin LMT reported fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of $7.24 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.23 by 0.1%. Its net sales amounted to $17.73 billion, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%.

Lockheed Martin ended 2021 (on Dec 31, 2021,) with $135.36 billion in backlog compared with $147.13 billion at the end of 2020. Its cash from operations at the end of 2021 amounted to $9.22 billion compared with $8.18 billion a year ago.

Raytheon Technologies’ RTX fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.08 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01 by 6.9%. Its sales of $17,044 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $17,215 million by 1%.

Raytheon Technologies had cash and cash equivalents of $7,832 million as of Dec 31, 2021, compared with $8,802 million as of Dec 31, 2020. The company currently projects adjusted EPS in the range of $4.60-$4.80 for 2022.

An Upcoming Defense Release

L3Harris Technologies LHX is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter 2021 results on Jan 31. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.90%, on average.

Its Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2021 earnings is pegged at $3.25, reflecting an annual improvement of 3.5%. The estimate slipped 0.9% over the last 60 days.

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