Boeing Co's quarterly profit rose 13 percent, topping expectations, and the company reaffirmed a full-year outlook that reflects a rebound in commercial airplane orders and resilience in the face of pressured defence budgets. The world's largest aerospace and defence company said its backlog was $329 billion, up 2.5 percent from a year earlier, and its shares rose 1.3 percent in morning trading.
"(Boeing Commercial Airplanes) is still well placed, with production rates heading higher, strong order inflow and no further blow-ups this quarter on its development programs," RBC Capital Markets analyst Robert Stallard said in a research note. "Defence has taken its program cancellation lumps already, and we expect its revenues and margins to be steady going forward. If Boeing can avoid execution pitfalls, we think it is well placed to progress," he said.
Boeing's first-quarter profit was $586 million, or 78 cents per share, topping analysts' average forecast of 70 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. In the year-earlier quarter Boeing earned $519 million, or 70 cents per share, after a charge of 20 cents per share related to healthcare legislation. Revenue slipped 2 percent to $14.9 billion.
"I think people are getting comfortable with the valuation, and people are getting comfortable with the recovery," said Alex Hamilton, managing director of EarlyBirdCapital. "What is clear is that this recovery is ongoing," he said. Boeing stood by its full-year 2011 outlook. It expects revenue of $68 billion to $71 billion and earnings per share of $3.80 to $4. Boeing, which competes with EADS unit Airbus, splits its business almost evenly between commercial airplanes and defence products.
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