Boeing Q3 Results: 737 Ramp Delay and Weak Cash Outlook Hit Shares

Boeing Q3 results showed revenue rising 4% to $24.2 billion and a smaller loss, but the planemaker pushed back its 737 MAX production target, sending its shares down nearly 10% on Tuesday.

The Arlington, Virginia-based company reported a net loss of $116 million, or 26 cents per share, for the quarter ended 30 September, according to its third-quarter results statement issued on 27 October. Its core loss, a non-GAAP measure, was 34 cents per share, wider than the 21-cent loss analysts had expected, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

Boeing 737 MAX production target slips to early 2027

Boeing now expects to reach a stable 737 MAX rate of 47 aircraft a month in early 2027, Reuters reported from the earnings call. In May, executives had said the company would hit that rate this summer.

The company still plans to lift output to 52 jets a month in the second half of 2027. Wing production remains the main constraint, an issue Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg acknowledged in September.

Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave said Boeing would miss its target of 500 737 deliveries this year, according to Reuters. The company delivered 161 commercial aircraft in the third quarter, including 124 737s and 22 787 Dreamliners, taking its nine-month total to 475.

Ortberg defended the slower pace. “It’s more important that we do this ramp right,” he told analysts, according to Yahoo Finance.

Weak Boeing free cash flow outlook rattles investors

The larger disappointment in the Boeing Q3 results was cash. Boeing guided to about $3 billion in free cash flow for 2027, well short of the $5.5 billion analysts had expected, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

Third-quarter free cash flow was $464 million, on operating cash flow of $1.5 billion. Over the first nine months of the year, however, the company has burned $359 million on a free cash flow basis.

Boeing shares fell 9.6% to $170.23 in afternoon trading on Tuesday, their worst day since 3 April 2025, Reuters reported. The stock had been marginally higher in premarket trading before the call.

Commercial Airplanes, the unit at the centre of the production problems, posted revenue of $10.7 billion, down 3%, and an operating loss of $697 million. Its operating margin of negative 6.5% compared with negative 48.3% a year earlier.

Defense, Space & Security revenue rose 15% to $7.9 billion with a margin of 6.2%, helped by a $252 million gain from the sale of HRL Laboratories. Global Services earned $1,019 million on revenue of $5.6 billion, a margin of 18.3%.

The total backlog reached a record $745 billion, including more than 6,300 commercial aircraft valued at $612 billion. Boeing ended the quarter with $20.7 billion in cash and marketable securities and debt of $45.9 billion. Net debt fell to $25.2 billion from $25.9 billion in the previous quarter, according to Reuters.

What Boeing Q3 results mean for airlines, including in India

A slower 737 ramp-up affects airlines that have built their growth plans around the narrow-body jet. In India, Akasa Air ordered 150 737 MAX aircraft in January 2024, including the larger MAX 10 variant, Reuters reported at the time.

The Federal Aviation Administration certified the 737-10 in October 2026, and the 737-7 received an amended type certificate during the third quarter, Boeing said. The approvals remove a regulatory hurdle for customers that ordered the two variants.

Boeing was also selected by the US Navy for its F/A-XX fighter programme, though the contract is not yet in the backlog. The 777X remains on track for first delivery in 2027, while 787 production is steady at eight a month.

Investors will now watch whether Boeing can reach 47 jets a month in early 2027 without fresh quality setbacks, and whether the 777-9 secures certification by mid-2027, as the company expects. In a memo to staff, Ortberg wrote: “Expectations are rising, and they should.”

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