Boeing Co. (BA) — Company Overview and Financial Profile Boeing Co. is a large aerospace and defense manufacturer that builds commercial airplanes, defense systems and related services. Its recent financial profile shows a sharp recovery from deep losses into positive earnings and cash flow while remaining highly leveraged and earnings-volatile. Operational Recovery The company is showing clear op
Boeing Co. is a large aerospace and defense manufacturer that builds commercial airplanes, defense systems and related services. Its recent financial profile shows a sharp recovery from deep losses into positive earnings and cash flow while remaining highly leveraged and earnings-volatile.
The company is showing clear operational recovery: trailing‑twelve‑month operating cash flow turned from a trough of −$12.08B (2024-12-31) to $2.50B most recently, with operating cash flow now slightly exceeding net income ($2.50B vs $2.27B) which supports quality of earnings (Earnings Quality Analysis, Revenue & Net Income). Revenue per share has risen steadily to $120.93 and one‑year revenue‑per‑share growth is 32.7%, while diluted EPS has swung to positive $2.98 with one‑year EPS growth of 119.7%—an inflection consistent with the top‑line rebound and improving operating margins (EPS Diluted & Revenue per Share, Revenue & EPS Growth, Profit Margin Trends). Return on equity has recovered to 37.9%, reflecting a return of profitability after earlier losses (Return on Equity (ROE)).
Material areas of concern remain. The balance sheet shows very high leverage by common ratios: debt‑to‑equity is approximately 7.89, which implies substantial capital structure risk despite the recent cash flow improvement. Profitability still shows a disparity between operating and bottom‑line results—operating margin is strong at 26.0% and gross margin 32.7%, yet net profit margin is only 2.5% in the most recent quarter—and quarterly net income has been highly volatile (e.g., −$11.82B trough vs $8.22B one‑quarter high), underlining earnings variability (Profit Margin Trends, Revenue & Net Income). Financing cash flow has also shifted materially, from +$29.33B peak inflows to −$10.45B TTM most recently, even as investing cash flow turned to net inflows of $7.93B (Strategic Capital Allocation).
The foundation of business quality and long-term value creation
Revenue for BOEING CO rose from a low of $15.24B in 2024-12 into the low-to-mid $20 billions through 2025, peaking at $23.95B in 2025-12 before easing to $22.22B in the most recent quarter. Over the last year, revenue has remained in a \$19–24B range, with the most recent quarters clustered near \$22–24B.
Net income has been highly variable over the same period, swinging from losses in most quarters to a large positive $8.22B in 2025-12, surrounded by substantial losses such as \$-5.34B in 2025-09 and smaller losses in other quarters. The most recent quarter shows a near-breakeven result. The most recent quarterly revenue was $22.22B and net income was \-$4.0M.
Why Growth Matters
Consistent revenue and earnings growth are the lifeblood of successful long-term investments. Companies that can grow their top line (revenue) and bottom line (net income) over many years demonstrate they have products or services customers value and are willing to pay for repeatedly.
Revenue Growth shows whether the company is expanding its market reach, gaining market share, or successfully launching new products.Net Income Growth demonstrates the company can convert that revenue into actual profits while managing costs effectively.
Look for steady, sustainable growth rather than erratic spikes. The best businesses compound earnings year after year, creating tremendous value for shareholders over time. Companies that can grow earnings faster than revenue are improving their profitability—a sign of operational excellence and competitive strength.
Year-over-year growth rates for revenue and earnings per share
Reading the Growth Rate Chart
This chart converts the absolute per-share figures into year-over-year percentage changes, making it easy to see whether growth is accelerating, decelerating, or reverting to trend — regardless of the company's absolute size.
Revenue per Share Growth (1-year, split-adjusted) measures how quickly the top line is expanding on a per-share basis. Sustained positive growth signals that the company continues to win customers and grow its addressable market.EPS Diluted Growth (1-year, split-adjusted) measures how quickly earnings are compounding for each shareholder. When EPS growth consistently outpaces revenue growth, operating leverage and margin expansion are at work.
Look for consistency, not just magnitude. A company that reliably grows EPS 10–15% per year is far more valuable than one that alternates between 50% spikes and deep contractions. Negative EPS growth during a period of positive revenue growth is a red flag — costs are rising faster than sales. Quarters where both lines converge near zero or go negative deserve close scrutiny.
How revenue converts to net income for the most recent annual period
Period Information
Report Type: Annual (10-K)
Period: Apr 2025 to Mar 2026
Revenue composition by disclosure category for the latest period
development, production and marketing of a family of commercial jet aircraft, including narrow-body and wide-body models, and continued development of stated derivative and next-generation programs.
research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems (including fighter, trainer, vertical lift, rotorcraft and tilt‑rotor platforms and commercial derivatives such as anti‑submarine and tanker aircraft), strategic defense and intelligence systems, command and control and related cyber and information solutions, and satellite and space systems for government and commercial use.
Global Services offerings that sustain aerospace platforms and systems, including supply chain and logistics management, engineering, maintenance and modifications, upgrades and conversions, spare parts, pilot and maintenance training systems and services, technical and maintenance documentation, and digital solutions and analytics.
ownership of patents and licensing arrangements with third parties, including licenses to and from third parties and government license rights in patents developed under government contracts.
Commercial airline industry — explicitly identified as the primary customer for commercial jet aircraft.
Defense customers — explicitly served through Defense, Space & Security products and services.
Government customers — explicitly referenced through government satellites, strategic defense systems and government contract patent licenses.
Training and maintenance customers — pilots and maintenance personnel as recipients of training systems and services.
Worldwide customer reach — for commercial airplane sales.
Worldwide provision of services — through Global Services.
Operations and workforce — include locations outside the United States (explicitly noted).
Company activities explicitly include developing, producing and marketing commercial jet aircraft.
Provision of services directly to commercial and defense customers worldwide via the Global Services segment.
Licensing of intellectual property to and from third parties.
Transactional product sales — revenue derived from the development, production and sale of commercial aircraft and discrete defense and space products.
Ongoing sustainment and service revenue — Global Services activities (maintenance, modifications, upgrades, spare parts supply, logistics, training, technical documentation, digital solutions and analytics) indicate ongoing support and sustainment revenue streams.
Licensing revenue — arrangements to license intellectual property to and from third parties and government rights in patents arising from government contracts.
Labor and collective bargaining risk — the company has multiple collective bargaining agreements and has experienced work stoppages and strike activity that halted production of most commercial aircraft and certain defense products and disrupted operations and specific defense programs; future work stoppages could materially adversely affect its business and financial position.
Government contract and patent-license risk — the U.S. government holds licenses in patents developed under government contracts and may use or authorize others to use inventions covered by such patents for government purposes.
Intellectual property reliance — the company identifies patents, licenses, unpatented research and engineering skills, trademarks, trade secrets and other intellectual property as important to its businesses, while also stating it does not believe expiration of any particular intellectual property right or termination of any particular license would materially affect the business.
Analyzing long-term margin stability and competitive positioning
BOEING CO’s margins have been volatile over the period shown, with deep negative net and operating margins through 2020 (net margin as low as -20.4% in 2020-12 and operating margin -18.1% the same quarter) followed by a multi-quarter recovery. Operating margin moved into consistently positive territory from 2022 onward and reached double digits across much of 2023–2025 (peaking at 19.0% in 2024-06), while gross margin oscillated between low teens and mid-20s for several quarters. Net profit margin remained negative through most of 2022–2025 before turning positive in the most recent reported year-end quarter.
The most recent quarter (period ending 2026-03-31) shows a notable uptick in gross and operating margins versus the prior quarter: gross margin rose to 32.7% from 17.6% and operating margin rose to 26.0% from 10.7% between 2025-12-31 and 2026-03-31, while net profit margin held at 2.5% in both quarters. The most recent gross margin was 32.7%, the most recent operating margin was 26.0%, and the most recent net profit margin was 2.5%.
Understanding Profit Margins
Between Apr 2025 and Mar 2026, Boeing Co converts every dollar of revenue through the following stages:
Sustainable competitive advantages reveal themselves through consistently superior profit margins over extended periods. Companies with durable economic moats maintain pricing power and operational efficiency that competitors struggle to match.
A sign of durable competitive advantage is earning sustained higher margins than competitors.Look for margins that remain stable or improve over time, especially during economic downturns. Declining margins may signal increasing competition, pricing pressure, or deteriorating business fundamentals.
Comparing reported earnings to actual cash generation
BOEING CO's trailing twelve-month series shows a pronounced trough through 2024, with both operating cash flow and net income turning deeply negative—peaking in severity at period-end 2024-12-31 when operating cash flow TTM was $-12.08B and net income TTM was $-11.82B. From that inflection point the two metrics moved in tandem through 2025, shifting from large negative TTM values toward breakeven and then into positive territory by 2025-12-31, indicating a clear reversal in the recent trend.
In the most recent quarters the recovery continued: operating cash flow TTM has recovered to slightly exceed net income TTM. The most recent trailing twelve-month operating cash flow was $2.50B and the most recent trailing twelve-month net income was $2.27B.
The Earnings vs. Cash Flow Gap
Reported earnings (Net Income) doesn't always reflect actual cash generation. Companies use accrual accounting, which recognizes revenue when earned and expenses when incurred—not when cash actually changes hands. This creates timing differences and opportunities for accounting discretion that can mask underlying business health.
Net Income (the "earnings" number) can be influenced by non-cash items like depreciation, stock-based compensation, and changes in accounting estimates.Operating Cash Flow, however, shows the actual cash the business generates from its core operations—a harder number to manipulate.
What to Look For
Key Insight: Companies with durable competitive advantages typically show operating cash flow that meets or exceeds net income over time, demonstrating they convert accounting profits into actual cash that can be returned to shareholders or reinvested in the business.
Measuring management's efficiency at generating profits from shareholder capital
BOEING CO's trailing twelve-month return on equity shows a sharp recent recovery after a prolonged period of negative ROE. From sustained negative readings through 2020–2024 (for example -33.9% at 2024-09-30, -302.4% at 2024-12-31), ROE plunged to -346.2% in the quarter ending 2025-03-31 before reversing to a large positive 324.1% in the quarter ending 2025-06-30. That 2025 Q2 inflection marks the transition from deeply negative to strongly positive profitability metrics.
Since that reversal, ROE has moderated each quarter: 119.4% at 2025-09-30, 41.0% at 2025-12-31 and 37.9% at 2026-03-31, indicating a move toward lower but still positive levels relative to the earlier extreme swings. The most recent reported return on equity (period ending 2026-03-31) was 37.9%.
The Gold Standard of Profitability
Return on Equity (ROE) is a powerful measure of how effectively a company's management is using the money shareholders have invested. Calculated by dividing Net Income by Shareholders' Equity, it reveals how much profit is generated for every dollar of equity capital.
A consistently high ROE (typically above 15-20%) is often the signature of a "quality" business with a durable competitive advantage. It indicates that the company can generate high returns on its own capital, which it can then reinvest at these high rates to compound value over time.
What to Look For:
How the company generates and deploys its cash
Over the past two years BOEING CO's operating cash flow (TTM) moved from sizable negatives into positive territory: it bottomed at $-12.08B (period ending 2024-12-31) and then recovered sequentially to $1.06B by 2025-12-31 and $2.50B by 2026-03-31.
Investing cash flow (TTM) also experienced a pronounced swing — after turning deeply negative through mid-2025 and bottoming at $-18.53B on 2025-09-30, it reversed to net inflows by late 2025 and rose to $7.93B as of 2026-03-31.
Financing cash flow (TTM) showed large inflows across 2024–mid 2025, peaking at $29.33B on 2025-03-31, then shifted to net outflows at the end of 2025 and moved to $-10.45B by 2026-03-31.
The most recent trailing twelve-month values are: operating cash flow $2.50B, investing cash flow $7.93B, and financing cash flow $-10.45B.
Understanding Company Strategy
Capital allocation refers to how management decides to spend and invest the company's cash. Analyzing the three primary categories of cash flow reveals a company's true operational strategy:
What to look for: Is the company bootstrapping (funding growth solely from operating cash)? Are they borrowing to fund aggressive expansion or dividends? Or are they capital raising by issuing new shares, potentially diluting your ownership? A healthy, mature company typically generates strong operating cash, moderately invests in growth, and returns the surplus to shareholders through financing activities.
Net assets attributable to each share — the accounting floor of intrinsic value
Why Book Value per Share Matters
Book value per share is the net worth of the company — total assets minus total liabilities — divided by shares outstanding (split-adjusted). It represents the theoretical liquidation value per share if every asset were sold and every liability repaid at balance-sheet carrying values. It is the accounting foundation upon which much of equity valuation is built.
A steadily rising book value per share is one of the most reliable signals of compounding wealth creation. It means the company is retaining earnings and building net worth faster than it is returning capital or eroding it. Warren Buffett famously tracked Berkshire Hathaway's book value per share for decades as his primary measure of intrinsic value growth.
Context is essential. Asset-heavy businesses (banks, manufacturers, utilities) should be judged by book value more directly than asset-light businesses (software, consumer brands), where intangible assets like intellectual property and customer loyalty may far exceed their balance-sheet carrying values. A company trading at a large premium to book value is not necessarily overvalued — it may simply possess competitive advantages that accounting rules do not capture. Conversely, a declining book value per share — especially over multiple years — is a serious warning sign of capital destruction.
How much of the company is financed by debt versus shareholders' equity
Reading the Debt-to-Equity Ratio
The debt-to-equity (D/E) ratio compares total financial debt to shareholders' equity. A ratio of 1.0 means the company has borrowed one dollar for every dollar of equity; a ratio of 2.0 means it has borrowed twice as much as it owns. Financial leverage amplifies both returns and risk: in good times, debt turbocharges equity returns; in bad times, it accelerates losses and can threaten solvency.
Trends matter more than a single number. A rising D/E ratio can mean the company is taking on debt to fund growth — potentially value-creating if returns exceed the cost of capital. But it can also mean equity is being eroded through losses or that the business is borrowing simply to sustain operations. A falling D/E ratio generally reflects strengthening financial health: earnings are being retained, debt maturities are being paid down, or both.
Industry norms vary enormously. Capital-intensive sectors (utilities, real estate, financials) routinely carry high D/E ratios that would be alarming in, say, a technology company. Always compare against sector peers. As a rough rule of thumb, a D/E above 2× in a cyclical business warrants careful scrutiny of interest coverage and refinancing risk.
Short-term liquidity — can the company cover its near-term obligations?
Liquidity: Can the Business Pay Its Bills?
The current ratio is calculated as current assets divided by current liabilities. A ratio of 1.5 means the company has $1.50 of short-term assets — cash, receivables, inventory — for every $1.00 of obligations due within the next twelve months. It is the most direct measure of near-term financial resilience: can the business meet its obligations without needing to raise new capital or sell long-term assets at a discount?
A ratio above 1.0 is generally healthy, meaning current assets exceed current liabilities. A ratio consistently above 2.0 may indicate the company is holding excess cash or inventory that could be deployed more productively. A ratio below 1.0 is a warning sign — the company is relying on future cash generation or external financing to cover its near-term obligations, which is manageable in normal conditions but dangerous during a downturn.
Trends and context matter.A declining current ratio isn't always alarming — highly efficient businesses (e.g., large retailers with reliable daily cash flows) often run leaner balance sheets intentionally. Conversely, a rapidly rising current ratio can signal slowing sales causing inventory to build, or customers taking longer to pay. Always compare the trend against industry peers and cross-reference with the cash flow statement to assess whether the business is genuinely liquid or just holding non-cash current assets.
How much the market is paying for each dollar of company earnings
BOEING CO's trailing twelve-month price-to-earnings ratio eased in the most recent quarter, falling from 74.1x at 2025-12-31 to 66.9x at 2026-03-31, a modest quarter-over-quarter contraction. Several intermediate quarters between 2024 and 2025 in the series are blank in the provided data, so short-term progression for that interval is not shown.
Over the longer run the P/E was generally in the low-teens to mid-20s through 2018 (for example 23.5x at 2018-12-31 and 26.7x at 2018-03-31) before rising sharply in 2019 (29.5x on 2019-03-31, 54.4x on 2019-06-30 and 76.4x on 2019-09-30). The most recent Price-to-Earnings ratio was 66.9x.
What Is the PE Ratio?
The Price-to-Earnings (PE) ratio is one of the most widely used valuation metrics in investing. It divides the current stock price by the company's earnings per share (EPS), revealing how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings. A high PE can signal that the market expects strong future growth, while a low PE may suggest undervaluation—or reflect genuine concerns about the company's prospects.
Context matters:PE ratios vary significantly across industries. High-growth technology companies routinely trade at PE ratios above 30x or 40x, while mature, low-growth sectors like utilities or financials often trade closer to 10–15x. Always compare a company's PE to its own history and its industry peers, not just an absolute number.
What to Look For:
Key Insight:The PE ratio is a snapshot of market sentiment and expectations. Tracking it over time alongside earnings trends reveals whether the market's valuation has expanded or contracted—and whether that change is justified by fundamentals.