At a Glance

  • The Boeing Company's latest quarterly net loss narrowed, with revenue up 35% year-over-year, despite ongoing regulatory and economic headwinds. The company's core loss per share was $1.24, which CFO Brian West said on Tuesday's earnings call represented "a significant improvement compared to last year," citing increased commercial airplane deliveries and improved operational performance as key drivers.
  • Weeks before the Arlington, Virginia-based Boeing released its earnings, it announced the appointment of Lockheed Martin veteran Jay Malave as CFO, effective August 15, as previously reported by CFO Dive. West will also transition to a senior advisor role on the same date.
  • "I also want to express my deep gratitude to Brian West for his exceptional work over the past four years in stabilizing the business and leading the recovery, while always positioning the company for the future," President and CEO Kelly Ortberg said on Tuesday's second-quarter earnings call. "I look forward to welcoming Jay to Boeing and to Brian continuing to provide advice in his new role."

Deep Dive

According to a July 3 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as CFO, Malave will receive an annual base salary of $1.05 million, along with a cash award of $1.5 million. He will also be eligible for an annual bonus with a target value of 120% of his base salary, and will be eligible for long-term incentive awards with a target value of $6.5 million starting in 2026.

Given his "recent employment" with Lockheed Martin, Malave also agreed to certain conditions regarding his role as Boeing's finance chief, including not participating in Boeing's Defense, Space & Security business until the end of the year. Boeing also agreed to pay Lockheed $2 million "to settle claims related to Mr. Malave's tenure at that company."

Malave served as Lockheed Martin's finance chief for three years, departing in April. He is set to take the helm of finance at Boeing as the company seeks to execute a turnaround plan aimed at restoring profitability and rebuilding trust with customers and regulators.

For the quarter ended June 30, the company's net loss narrowed to $612 million, compared with $1.43 billion in the same period last year. Meanwhile, revenue surged 35% to $22.7 billion. The aircraft maker also narrowed its second-quarter cash burn to $200 million, compared with $4.3 billion in the prior-year period—a improvement CFO West also attributed to higher commercial airplane deliveries and improved working capital.

However, the aircraft maker still faces numerous challenges, including ongoing regulatory scrutiny following multiple plane crashes and incidents in recent years.

The company remains subject to a production cap on its 737 aircraft, imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration in January 2024 after a door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight. In June, the FAA determined that Boeing failed to provide adequate training and oversight for manufacturing operations, which led to the incident.

Boeing still plans to seek FAA approval to raise the 737 production cap from the current 38 aircraft per month to 42, CEO Ortberg said Tuesday.

"On the 737, you'll recall our plan is to gradually ramp up to 38 per month, stabilize at that rate, and then request FAA approval for the next increase to 42 per month," he said in response to a question. In the second quarter, Boeing delivered 150 commercial jets and achieved a production rate of 38 737s per month, and is now "focused on demonstrating stability at that rate."

"We will continue to use the key performance indicators agreed upon with the FAA to measure the health of the production system," Ortberg said, noting that Boeing "expects to be in a position" to request approval to raise the cap to 42 in the coming months.

Ortberg also downplayed the risk of a potential strike by about 3,200 employees at the company's fighter jet and munitions plants in St. Louis and St. Charles, noting that "the scale of this event is much smaller than last fall," when about 30,000 machinists went on strike.

"We'll handle it," Ortberg said of the upcoming strike. "I'm not too worried about the impact of the strike. We'll manage through it."