Boeing Expects 30 Percent Revenue Drop in 4th Quarter

The company’s commercial airplane deliveries dropped by a third last year.

A strike sign hangs from a post near a Boeing sign as Boeing factory workers and supporters gather on a picket line during the third day of a strike near the entrance to a Boeing production facility in Renton, Wash., on Sept. 15, 2024. David Ryder/Reuters

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced that its fourth quarter (Q4) revenue is anticipated to be substantially lower than the same period in 2023, blaming worker strikes for contributing to the decline.

Boeing expects to report Q4 revenues of $15.2 billion, down more than 30 percent from $22.01 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a Jan. 23 statement from the company. The company expects a loss per share of $5.46 for the fourth quarter, well above the $0.04 loss from the same period in the previous year. Boeing is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter results on Jan. 28.

The company said its Q4 results were impacted by “work stoppage and agreement” related to strikes conducted by employees affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union as well as “charges for certain Defense, Space & Security programs, and costs associated with workforce reductions announced last year.”

Thousands of Boeing factory workers went on strike beginning on Sept. 14, 2024. The strike ended in early November after the company agreed to a new contract that boosted wages and provided other benefits.

The IAM work stoppage contributed to a $1.1 billion hit taken by Boeing’s 777X and 767 programs. The company also suffered another $1.7 billion in expenses for its Defense, Space & Security segment, which was related to higher estimated manufacturing costs, including impacts from the work stoppage. In total, Boeing took a $2.8 billion hit in the fourth quarter.

“Although we face near-term challenges, we took important steps to stabilize our business during the quarter including reaching an agreement with our IAM-represented teammates and conducting a successful capital raise to improve our balance sheet,” Kelly Ortberg, Boeing’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

“We also restarted 737, 767, and 777/777X production and our team remains focused on the hard work ahead to build a new future for Boeing.”

Boeing’s Q4 expectations did not have much of an impact on its stock price. Shares of the company were trading at $174.80 at the close of trading on Jan. 22, and closed at $176.06 on Jan. 24. Over the past year, Boeing shares have fallen by nearly 13 percent.

On Jan. 14, Boeing revealed it made 348 commercial airplane deliveries last year, down 34 percent from 528 deliveries in 2023.

Corporation Under Pressure

Boeing came under intense federal scrutiny last year after a 737 Max 9 aircraft operated by Alaska Airlines suffered a midair incident in January 2024 when a door panel blew off, forcing an emergency landing.

Multiple agencies, including the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, and the U.S. Department of Justice, opened investigations into Boeing following the incident.

During a Senate hearing in June, then-CEO Dave Calhoun said the accident was not the result of poor design but caused by a “manufacturing defect.”

Anders Corr, a principal at Corr Analytics Inc., called for giving Boeing a break, highlighting the company’s importance to American national security.

Corr specifically cited the issue of Boeing’s employee strike, which ended after the aircraft maker agreed to a 38 percent wage hike and a $12,000 ratification bonus per employee.

“This is way above U.S. market rates and even further above what China pays its aircraft workers. That matters because if current trends continue, China’s aircraft manufacturers will eventually outcompete Boeing in global export markets,” Corr wrote in a commentary for The Epoch Times on Nov. 28, 2024.

“Future U.S. workers who would like to work at Boeing will not be able to because Boeing will not have the exports because of the artificially high union wages that were agreed to only under the duress of the strike. This dynamic deindustrialized the United States from the 1970s to the present, and it is continuing against Boeing now.”

Despite being under federal scrutiny, Boeing has continued to secure military orders. In November 2024, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a contract for 15 KC-46A Pegasus tankers valued at $2.38 billion. Since 2019, the company has delivered 89 KC-46As to the Air Force.

In December, the U.S. Army ordered three CH-47F Block II Chinooks from Boeing with a contract value of $135 million.