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Boeing (BA) Wins $2B Deal to Support F/A-18 & EA-18G Aircraft

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The Boeing Company (BA - Free Report) recently secured a contract involving the F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft. The award has been offered by Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, CA.

Details of the Deal

Valued at $2.02 billion, the contract is expected to be completed by December 2027. Per the terms of the deal, Boeing will provide system upgrades for the F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft, which include Foreign Military Sales (FMS) variants.

The jet giant will also offer deliverables and services based on systems configuration set requirements consisting of all software and hardware required to implement new capabilities on the aforementioned aircraft.

The majority of work related to this deal will be executed in St. Louis, MO. The contract will serve the U.S. Navy and FMS customers.

What’s Favoring Boeing?

Boeing, one of the major players in the defense business, stands out among its peers by virtue of its broadly diversified programs, strong order bookings and solid backlog. Furthermore, the company's expertise lies in a wide variety of aircraft components, repairs and modification-related programs.

Notably, its Defense, Space & Security segment’s portfolio has fixed-wing military aircraft, including F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-15 programs, P-8 programs, KC-46A Tanker and T-7A Red Hawk.  Boeing's combat-proven aerospace programs and associated services, along with the rapidly growing need for military aircraft due to heightened geopolitical uncertainties worldwide, result in a solid inflow of orders from the Pentagon. The latest contract win is an example of that. Such order flows, in turn, should boost the top line of the defense business segment.

Growth Prospects

With rising security threats across the globe, emerging economies like the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and South America are spending a lot on enhancing their defense arsenals. Meanwhile, developed nations like the United States and Europe have already been leading the defense market. With the United States being the largest worldwide weapons exporter, the nation has been spending amply on defense products. Boeing, the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States, thus enjoys a dominant position in the combat aircraft market.

Per a Mordor Intelligence report, the global fixed-wing military aircraft market is expected to witness a CAGR of 6.5% during the 2022-2028 time period, with North America constituting the largest share of this market. Such growth can be attributed to a rise in global threats and geopolitical instabilities and increased spending on defense. These projections should benefit Boeing along with other U.S.-based combat jet manufacturers like Northrop Grumman (NOC - Free Report) , Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) and Textron (TXT - Free Report) .

Since its inception, Northrop Grumman has been a pioneer in the development of manned aircraft for combat. Northrop Grumman also has a tradition of providing technological leadership in all aspects of military aviation and aircraft, such as manned, unmanned, targeting, surveillance, and aircraft self-protection systems that enable warfighters to accomplish missions anytime and anywhere, under any conditions.

NOC boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 3.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOC’s 2022 sales implies an improvement of 1.6% from the 2021 reported figure.

Lockheed’s Aeronautics business segment is engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, sustainment, support and upgrade of advanced military aircraft, including combat and air mobility aircraft, unmanned air vehicles and related technologies. Its major programs include F-35, C-130 Hercules, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-22 Raptor jets.

Lockheed boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 6.2%. The company has a solid four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.62%, on average.

Textron’s business unit, Textron Aviation Defense, designs, builds and supports versatile and globally-known military aircraft, preferred for training and attack missions. Textron Aviation’s military trainer and defense aircraft include the T-6 trainer, which has been used to train pilots from more than 20 countries, and the AT-6 light attack military aircraft.

TXT boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 15.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TXT’s 2022 sales implies an improvement of 4.1% from the 2021 reported figure.

Price Movement

Shares of Boeing have lost 6.7% in the past 12 months compared with the industry’s decline of 3.7%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank

Boeing currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 


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