Boeing Stock Is Rising. The Jet Maker Is Now a Buy, Says Analyst.

Boeing shares are up so far in June. (Dreamstime)

After the Air India crash on June 12 that left more than 250 people dead, June was always going to be a dismal month for Boeing.

The jet maker’s stock fell sharply in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, and investigations into the fate of the 11-year-old 787 plane remain under way.

But Boeing got a vote of confidence Friday from Olivier Brochet of Rothschild & Co Redburn, who argued in a research note that positive changes at the company are beginning to bear fruit. Brochet upgraded Boeing stock to Buy from Neutral, and raised his price target to $275 from $180.

Boeing shares were up 3.5% to $208.84 Friday, meaning the stock is now up in the black so far in June despite all the turmoil.

It helps that demand won’t be an issue for Boeing—or its French rival Airbus, for that matter—for the foreseeable future. In its 2025 Commercial Market Outlook, Boeing projected the global fleet of single and twin-aisle jets to reach 43,600 aircrafts by 2044 from around 22,400 at the end of 2024. That’s more than 2,000 new planes a year.

The real question is whether Boeing can ramp up production to meet demand. Brochet says yes, citing both financial improvements and changes to the company’s culture since CEO Kelly Ortberg took charge last year.

Boeing’s inventories swelled at the tail end of the 2010s, and the company racked up a tremendous amount of long-term debt, peaking at $61.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2020. The company has gradually reduced the debt on its balance sheet since then, however, a process Brochet expects to continue.

Boeing now needs to ensure the balance sheet “is sustainably fueled with enough cash flows that Boeing can both invest in the business and return cash to shareholders (in that order),” the analyst wrote.

To that end, Brochet is forecasting Boeing will reduce debt in 2026 and 2027, and return to a positive cash-to-debt ratio in 2028 and 2029 that could mean dividends for shareholders. The company suspended dividend payments in 2020.

The production of 737 and 787 jets will be a key part of that cash-flow strategy, Brochet argued, but it needs to come with a focus on safety and accountability.

“It is now widely accepted in the markets that Boeing progressively lost its focus on safety,” Brochet wrote, citing a number of crashes and close calls over the last decade.

Boeing has brought some outsourced work back in house, however, and agreed to several safety-related performance metrics with the Federal Aviation Administration, Brochet wrote. The company’s strategy is no longer geared toward “short-term financial performance at all costs.”

The jet maker is now better-positioned to ramp up production, Brochet argued. The company holds hundreds of fuselages and engines in inventory that it can use in new 737s over the next several years, he said. Brochet is also bullish about Boeing’s ability to increase production of 787s and perhaps return to sustained growth in its defense business after years of choppy revenue.

All of those positives add up to a new outlook for the embattled company.

“We consider that the underlying improvement in the group’s industrial and financial health justifies a more positive approach,” Brochet wrote. “It seems Boeing is about to transition to a new phase where it delivers on expectations.”

Redburn isn’t alone. Of the 31 analysts polled by FactSet, 21 have a Buy or Overweight rating on Boeing stock, and just one rates it at Underweight. Meanwhile, Boeing shares are now up 18% so far in 2025.

Even as the company contends with a flurry of understandably negative headlines, its stock keeps humming along.

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com