Boeing reports a fourth-quarter loss of about $3.8 billion in the final quarter of 2024. This happened because of a machinist strike and some other problems the company seems to be facing.
Since 2019, Boeing has lost more than $35 billion. A big reason for this is the crashes of two new Max airplanes that sadly killed 346 people. These crashes hurt Boeing’s reputation and led to financial losses. Throughout 2024, the company reported a total loss of $11.8 billion.
Boeing recently shared its financial results, and they matched what the company had reported earlier. The company faced nearly $3 billion in extra costs because of worker strikes, job cuts, and issues with government projects.
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Boeing lost more money per share than what Wall Street analysts expected. According to data from FactSet, each share lost $5.46 in value. This was much worse than the $3.08 loss that financial experts had predicted.
The fourth quarter of 2024 ended a tough year for Boeing. Machinists who build Boeing’s most popular planes, like the 737 Max, 777, and 767, went on strike. This action stopped production at factories in Washington state, and it lasted for more than seven weeks. This made it hard for Boeing to finish and deliver planes. The workers finally returned after Boeing agreed to pay higher wages and offer better benefits.
Boeing repeated what it had already shared earlier. The aircraft company said it lost $1.1 billion on the 777 and 767 planes in the last part of the year. The company also lost another $1.7 billion on government projects. These projects include military planes and new jets that are meant to replace Air Force One.
Boeing reported that it made $15.2 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024. This amount is much less than the $15.7 billion analysts had predicted. For the entire year, the company earned $66.5 billion, which is 14% less than what it earned in 2023.
The aircraft manufacturing company also shared that it delivered 348 jetliners last year. That is much fewer than the 528 planes it supplied in 2023 and less than half of what its competitor, Airbus, delivered. This is a big deal because plane manufacturers like Boeing get a lot of their money when they hand over planes to customers.
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Most of the planes Boeing delivered were 737 Max jets. This shows how important this model is to the company. Boeing had planned to make more planes in 2024, but in January, a door panel on a 737 Max jet came off midair during an Alaska Airlines flight. Due to this occurrence, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) put a limit on the amount of planes Boeing could produce. The limitation was placed until the company could prove its safety and quality issues had been fixed.
This problem affected Boeing’s business in other ways, too. It struggled to sell new planes, and for at least two months, no one ordered any 737 Max jets. By the end of the year, Boeing was far behind Airbus in total plane orders, which also includes canceled orders. However, despite all these issues, Boeing’s stock price increased slightly before the stock market opened.