Boeing Raises Guidance on Tax Benefit

By Anne Steele 

Boeing Co. on Wednesday said its profit climbed, boosted by a tax benefit, and the aircraft maker edged up its forecast for revenue this year as deliveries rose in the latest quarter.

Shares, up 5.5% this month, rose another 1.6% premarket to $141.25.

Revenue is now expected to come at $93.5 billion to $95.5 billion, compared with previous guidance for $93 billion to $95 billion, on higher aircraft deliveries. The company also sees full-year adjusted per-share earnings between $6.80 and $7 a share, up from its previous guidance for $6.10 and $6.30, due to a 70-cent per-share tax adjustment. Still, the new outlook is still down from an earlier range of $8.15 to $8.35.

Production stumbles have sliced into profitability lately. Delays related to developing Boeing's new Air Force refueling tanker, demand concerns about its biggest jetliner, the 747-8 jumbo, and the original high costs of its 787 Dreamliner -- its most advanced jetliner -- are part of a yearslong hangover of high initial development costs on crucial new programs.

On Wednesday, Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said the company hit key milestones on the 737 MAX, 787-10 and other development programs, including the first KC-46 production contracts.

In all for the September quarter, Boeing reported a profit of $2.28 billion, or $3.60 a share, up from a year-earlier's $1.7 billion, or $2.47 a share. Excluding items, the company earned an adjusted profit of $3.51 a share when factoring in the 70-cent tax benefit. Factoring out the benefit, profit still topped analysts' estimates for $2.62 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue slipped 7.5% to $23.9 billion, edging in above the $23.64 billion in sales analysts were looking for.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2016 08:40 ET (12:40 GMT)

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