Boeing Posts a Rare Better-Than-Expected Earnings Report. Why the Stock Is Falling.

Coming into earnings, Boeing stock was up more than 30% this year. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Boeing stock fell Tuesday, but thankfully, there were no big surprises in its second-quarter earnings report, which should give investors confidence in the company’s turnaround.

The commercial jet maker on Tuesday announced a loss per share of $1.24 on sales of $22.7 billion. Wall Street had expected a loss per share of $1.40 on sales of $21.7 billion, according to Bloomberg. A year ago, in the second quarter of 2024, Boeing reported a per-share loss of $2.90 from sales of $16.9 billion.

Shares traded as high as $242.69, a new 52-week high, but the gains didn’t last: The stock closed 4.4% lower at $226.08 on Tuesday. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.

It’s a big dip, but shares were up about 30% over the past three months heading into earnings.

Wall Street appeared encouraged by the results.

The “turnaround gathers thrust with sharply lower free cash flow burn,” wrote Melius Research analyst Scott Mikus in a Tuesday report. He pointed out that Boeing’s free cash burn improved to $200 million during the period, down from $4.3 billion in the second quarter of 2024 and down from $2.3 billion in the first quarter of 2025. “Furthermore, free cash flow is expected to turn positive in 4Q and should improve significantly in 2026.” Mikus rates shares Buy and has a $264 price target for the stock.

“Progress being made,” wrote Vertical Research Partners analyst Rob Stallard on Tuesday. “Although there is still work to do, these results show that Boeing is making meaningful progress.” He rates shares Hold and has a $242 target price for shares.

Sales rose with commercial jet deliveries. Boeing delivered 150 jets in the second quarter of 2025, up from 92 in the second quarter of 2024.

Production and deliveries in 2024 were constrained by the emergency door plug blowout of an Alaska Air Group 737 MAX 9 while it was in flight. Boeing has spent months improving quality and manufacturing processes to ramp up production and start chipping away at its substantial backlog. Boeing has roughly 6,600 unfilled orders for new jets.

Wall Street expects 2025 deliveries of about 580 jets, up from 348 in 2024. The more jets Boeing delivers, the more earnings and cash flow it makes.

Boeing isn’t expected to generate positive earnings or free cash flow in 2025, but as Mikus notes, it is expected to turn the corner in 2026. Wall Street projects that commercial deliveries in 2026 will rise to more than 700 planes, generating sales of almost $80 billion, earnings per share of roughly $3.50, and free cash flow of $5.6 billion. Boeing hasn’t generated a full-year profit since 2018. The company has used more than $40 billion in cash since the second tragic 737 MAX crash grounded that plane worldwide between March 2019 and November 2020.

It has been a long road back for the company. Things are looking up, though. Seaport analyst Richard Safran was “lean[ing] positive into the print,” writing in a preview report that deliveries of 787 jets were better than expected. “Conference call commentary pointing to continued operational improvements could be a positive.” He rates shares Buy and has a $285 price target for the stock.

He got some positive comments. “It’s clear our recovery plan is taking hold,” said CEO Kelly Ortberg on the company’s earnings conference call. “We’re making steady progress to stabilize our business, strengthen development program execution, and change our culture to set up for the future.”

Ortberg noted that “traveled work”—work done somewhere else on the assembly line other than where the job was designed to be done—was down 50%. It’s a sign of improving production quality.

Ortberg also noted that 737 MAX production was back at 38 jets a month, the number allowed by U.S. aviation authorities. “We expect to be in a position to request approval from the FAA in the coming months to increase to 42 aircraft per month,” he said.

It’s what investors wanted to hear, and the stock reaction was roughly within expected outcomes. Options markets implied shares would move 4%, up or down, following earnings. Shares moved an average of about 3% over the past four reports. They have risen three times and fallen once over that span.

The three gains are noteworthy and show, to some extent, that things are normalizing for Boeing stock. Since the second MAX crash, shares were more likely to fall than rise after earnings. Boeing has missed Wall Street estimates about 70% of the time since then. Apple , for comparison, has missed earnings less than 10% of the time over the same span. Boeing stock rose 6.1% after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings.

Coming into earnings, Boeing stock was up more than 33% this year.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com