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Boeing released its 2025 financial results, and the company continues to slowly recover from the pandemic and the 2024 quality meltdown, with core earnings per share turning positive after a prior-year loss. The company reported positive cash flow in the 4th quarter, aided by a $9.6B gain from the sale of Jeppesen that had been excluded from consensus Wall St. estimates.
“We made significant progress on our recovery in 2025 and have set the foundation to keep our momentum going in the year ahead,” said Kelly Ortberg, Boeing president and chief executive officer. We completed the acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems and the sale of portions of the Digital Aviation Solutions business and remain focused on promoting stable operations, completing our development programs, rebuilding trust with our stakeholders, and fully restoring Boeing to the iconic company we all know it can be.
Overall Financial Performance
Revenues rose from $66.5 billion to 89.5 billion during the year, a 34% increase. Much of that increase was due to higher 737 MAX production. Production of the 737 MAX is constrained by the FAA, currently at 42 per month and expected to rise to 47 per month by mid-year, compared with 32 and 38 per month limitations last year.
Core operating earnings turned around from a loss of $11.811 billion last year to a profit of $3.236 billion. Core earnings per share came in at $1.19, a turnaround from a loss of $20.38 per share the year before.
Commercial Airplanes
The business unit delivered 600 aircraft in 2025, compared with 348 in 2025. The 74% increase in deliveries led to an 82% increase in revenues, from $22.9 billion in 2024 to $41.5 billion in 2025. The business unit still reported negative margins, which shrank from 34.9% to 17.1% of revenues.
Guidance for 2026 includes the current MAX production rate of 42, with an increase to 47 and possibly 52 during the year. Plans are to ramp up the 787 rate to eight per month, then to 10 per month. The company expects certification of the remaining 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 10 models during the year, as well as certification of the 777-X during 2026. Achieving these certifications without further delays will enable Boeing to further increase production and deliveries in 2027.
Deliveries in the commercial aviation segment rose from 348 to 600 year-over-year, and free cash flow turned positive during the fourth quarter, at $375 million, compared with a $4.1 billion deficit year over year. For the year, free cash flow remained negative, at $1.9 billion, compared with a $14.3 billion deficit in 2024.
Defense, Space and Security
Boeing’s defense unit continues to face challenges, but improved revenues 14% year-over-year to $27.2 billion, and continued to report operating losses, albeit much smaller. DSS cut its losses from $5.4 billion year-over-year to a negative $128 million in 2025, as the company’s turnaround continued. During the 4th quarter, the company took another $0.6 billion charge for losses on the troubled KC-46A tanker program and its fixed-price contract.
DSS backlog grew to a record $85 billion, with 74% domestic and 26% international.
Global Services
Boeing’s most profitable unit is global services, which continues to provide the highest operating margins among the business units. In 2025, BGS delivered operating earnings of $13.5 billion on revenues of $20.9 billion, providing an operating margin of 64.4%. This is up from 18.1% last year, when BGS was the only profitable business unit. The operating margin reflects the sale of Jeppesen, adding a $9.6 billion gain, without which margins for 2025 would have been a respectable 18.5%.
The Bottom Line
2026 will be a pivotal year for Boeing. Three new airplanes are scheduled for certification with the FAA during the year, the success of which will open new production at Everett. Finished aircraft inventories are likely to increase, with around 30 737 MAX 10 and about 20 777X likely to be produced but not delivered during the year.
Our production projection is about 686 aircraft, with deliveries of 636 aircraft in 2026 and a strong start to 2027 with the new aircraft inventory.
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