In its latest financial release, Boeing reported on Tuesday an annual loss of $11.829 billion in 2024, its largest since 2020’s $11.94 billion loss. The company said that its fourth-quarter losses reached $3.8 billion.
Boeing attributed this performance to “previously announced impacts of the IAM work stoppage and agreement, charges for certain defense programs, and costs associated with workforce reductions announced last year.”
Boeing shares fell 0.51 percent to $175.16 following the release of the results.
“We made progress on key areas to stabilize our operations during the quarter and continued to strengthen important aspects of our safety and quality plan. My team and I are focused on making the fundamental changes needed to fully recover our company’s performance and restore trust with our customers, employees, suppliers, investors, regulators and all others who are counting on us,” stated Kelly Ortberg, Boeing president and chief executive officer.
Operating cash flow reaches $3.5 billion
The company recorded fourth-quarter revenues of $15.2 billion, annual revenues of $66.5 billion, GAAP loss per share of $5.46 and core loss per share of $5.90.
Boeing reported an operating cash flow of $3.5 billion and a free cash flow of $4.1 billion, reflecting lower commercial deliveries, as well as unfavorable working capital timing, primarily driven by the IAM work stoppage.
After reporting record-high profits in the previous decade, Boeing has lost over $30 billion since 2019 after two crashes of its 737 MAX jets triggered production quality and safety concerns. The crashes also raised concerns that the company had misled regulators during the plane’s certification process.
The COVID-19 pandemic further pressured the company and the mid-air panel blowout on the 737 MAX in early 2024 dragged Boeing into another crisis.
Commercial airplanes post revenues of $22.86 billion
The commercial airplanes segment at Boeing recorded fourth-quarter revenues of $4.8 billion and annual revenues of $22.86 billion, down from $33.9 billion in 2023. The segment also recorded an operating margin of 43.9 percent which reflects the impact of the IAM work stoppage and agreement including lower deliveries and pre-tax charges of $1.1 billion on the 777X and 767 programs.
The company’s 737 program resumed production in the quarter and plans to gradually increase production rate. The 787 program exited the year at a production rate of five per month and recently announced plans to expand South Carolina operations. In January, the 777X program resumed FAA certification flight testing, and the company still anticipates the first delivery of the 777-9 in 2026.
The segment booked 204 net orders in the quarter, including 100 737-10 airplanes for Pegasus Airlines and 30 787-9 airplanes for flydubai.
Commercial Airplanes delivered 57 airplanes during the quarter, down from 157 in Q4 of 2023, and the backlog included over 5,500 airplanes valued at $435 billion. Annual deliveries reached 348, down from 528 last year.
Defense segment’s revenues decline to $23.91 billion
Boeing’s defense, space and security segment recorded fourth-quarter revenues of $5.4 billion compared to $6.74 billion last year. The segment’s operating margin recorded 41.9 percent during the quarter and 22.6 percent for the full year.
Year-on-year, the segment’s revenues declined from $24.93 billion in 2023 to $23.9 billion in 2024.
In January, the U.S. Air Force announced an updated acquisition approach for the T-7A Red Hawk that allows the company to provide a production-ready configuration to the customer prior to low-rate initial production, which better supports the operational needs of the customer and reduces future production risk.
