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Will Higher Defense Deliveries Aid Boeing (BA) in Q1 Earnings?

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The Boeing Company’s (BA - Free Report) Defense, Space & Security (BDS) segment is likely to have recorded impressive first-quarter 2023 revenues, thanks to higher deliveries of the company’s defense products. However, increased supply-chain constraints must have impacted the unit’s quarterly bottom-line performance.

Boeing’s first-quarter results are scheduled to be released on Apr 26.

Click here to know how the company’s overall performance might have been in the soon-to-be-reported quarter.

Steady Order Flow to Aid Backlog

With the U.S. administration spending significantly on the nation’s defense capabilities for the past couple of years, Boeing’s defense and space unit has been witnessing solid order flow from the Pentagon, NASA and Congress for its varied products. This, in turn, has been consistently boosting the BDS segment’s backlogs.

The Boeing Company Price and EPS Surprise

The Boeing Company Price and EPS Surprise

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

Amid the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the defense market has been relatively stable. Boeing has been witnessing solid, global demand for its major combat programs, which translated into an overall order value of $7 billion for the BDS unit in the fourth quarter of 2022. We expect the upcoming results to reflect a similar order count for the BDS unit in terms of a solid backlog figure.

Solid Deliveries to Aid Q1 Performance

Boeing’s first-quarter 2023 defense delivery figures indicate an improvement of 2.4% from the year-ago period.

In the quarter, its defense deliveries totaled 42, up from 41 in the prior-year quarter. Such improved delivery figures are expected to have boosted the defense segment’s revenues in the soon-to-be-reported quarter.

Notably, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s defense unit revenues is pegged at $5,607 million, indicating an improvement of 2.3% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

Earnings Prospects

Higher delivery volumes for its defense products are likely to have boosted the BDS segment’s bottom line.

However, the operational impact of supply chain constraints in labor must have adversely impacted the segment’s first-quarter earnings. Nevertheless strong order activities in prior quarters might have outweighed these adverse impacts and bolstered BDS’ overall earnings performance.

Notably, the bottom-line estimate for the company’s defense unit is pegged at a loss of $250 million, indicating a significant improvement from the year-ago quarter’s reported loss of $929 million.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

According to the Zacks model, the combination of two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold) — increases the odds of an earnings beat.

Boeing has an Earnings ESP of -119.45% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to Consider

Below are three defense stocks that have the right combination of elements to come up with an earnings beat this reporting cycle:

Spirit AeroSystems (SPR - Free Report) : The company is expected to release first-quarter results on May 3. SPR has an Earnings ESP of +16.58% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Spirit AeroSystems delivered a four-quarter average negative earnings surprise of 157.65%. The bottom-line estimate for SPR is pegged at a loss of 31 cents, indicating a deterioration from the prior-year quarter’s earnings of 3 cents per share.

Embraer (ERJ - Free Report) : The company is scheduled to release first-quarter results on May 3. ERJ has an Earnings ESP of +116.67% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Embraer delivered a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 105.32%. The bottom-line estimate for ERJ is pegged at a loss of 3 cents per share, indicating an improvement from the year-ago quarter’s loss of 43 cents per share.

CAE Inc. (CAE - Free Report) is expected to report first-quarter results soon. CAE has an Earnings ESP of +3.85% and a Zacks Rank #3.

CAE delivered a four-quarter average negative earnings surprise of 2.23%. The consensus estimate for CAE’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 26 cents per share, indicating an improvement of 13% from the prior-year quarter’s reported number.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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