Despite Boeing’s strong performance in the first quarter of the year, concerns such as quality control and safety issues, as well as escalating global tariff tensions linger.
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US aerospace giant Boeing Co reported its first quarter 2025 earnings on Wednesday, recording robust revenues, while operating margins also became positive.
This was mainly due to aircraft deliveries rising in the first quarter, with Boeing delivering 105 737 jets in the three months ended 31 March, compared to 67 in the same quarter in 2024.
Revenue for the first quarter of the year soared 18% on an annual basis to $19.4 billion (€17.1bn), with earnings from operations coming up to $461 million (€405.8m).
Operating margins were 2.4% in Q1 2025, compared to -0.5% in the first quarter of 2024. Net loss narrowed to $31m (€27.3m) in the last quarter, in contrast with $355m (€312.4m) in Q1 2024.
Operating cash flow also came down to $1.6bn (€1.4bn) in the first quarter, down from $3.4bn (€3bn) in the corresponding quarter last year.
Boeing’s shares jumped 5.7% on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday afternoon around 4:12 pm CEST.
The company delivered five 767 jets between January to March this year, compared to 3 in the same period last year. Seven 777 jets were also delivered in the first quarter, up from none in the corresponding quarter in 2024.
However, deliveries of the 787 aircrafts remained steady at 13 in the first quarter this year.
Boeing has revealed that it still expects 737 aircraft production to reach 38 per month this year.
These strong figures could point towards the company potentially starting to recover somewhat following a particularly challenging period fraught with quality control and safety issues. It could also highlight its efforts to improve execution, stabilise operations and slowly rebuild trust with stakeholders and clients.
Boeing could be significantly vulnerable to tariffs
Boeing, like several other major aerospace companies, could be considerably impacted by the current escalating tariff war between the US and China.
This is especially following aircrafts which were meant for Chinese airlines being returned to the US recently, according to flight data cited by Reuters.
At the moment, the US has imposed tariffs of up to 145% against China, with China retaliating with levies of 125% on imports from the US.
With jets such as the 737 Max already being significantly expensive, these extra tariffs can make them prohibitively expensive, unless airlines overhaul their current business models.
These extra costs could add considerably to Boeing’s existing challenges which include production delays, safety concerns, financial losses, technical and regulatory issues, as well as a major loss in consumer and investor confidence.
These tariffs could also cause airlines to delay deliveries and production, as they decide on the path forward.
