Boeing Closes in on Airbus With Best Delivery Quarter Since 2018
Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Airbus (OTCMKTS: EADSY) are the world’s dominant players when it comes to commercial aircraft production. Despite sharing this market, one thing that these names have not held in common is stock market performance. Airbus has provided a five-year total return of over 250%, more than double the approximately 120% return of the S&P 500 Index. Meanwhile, Boeing’s paltry 35% return has deeply underperformed.
Both aerospace companies just reported their latest financial results. Below, we’ll analyze key metrics coming from both firms. Is Boeing narrowing the gap versus Airbus, or is its business continuing to fall behind? Ultimately, how should investors think about these two stocks?
Boeing Grows Revenue at 30%, Posts Best Deliveries in 8 Years
When it comes to these companies, plane deliveries and production are some of the most important metrics. They signal how fast the two can execute on their huge backlogs, allowing for revenue recognition and margin improvements. On this front, Boeing posted strong figures. Its commercial plane deliveries came in at 160. This was a 38% increase from 116 in Q3 2024. Overall, Boeing’s quarterly deliveries were the highest since 2018, bringing its total 2025 deliveries to 440. This helped revenue rise by 30% to $23.3 billion, solidly beating estimates of $21.6 billion.
However, the company’s earnings per share (EPS) of -$7.47 missed sorely as it took a $4.9 billion charge on its 777X aircraft program. The company now expects to start delivering these planes in 2027, rather than in 2026. This creates higher-than-expected costs and also means that customers will pay less to compensate for the delay.
Importantly, the company’s 737 production stabilized at 38 planes per month. This is a goal the company has been trying to reach for over two years now. It also agreed with the Federal Aviation Administration to boost production to 42 planes per month in October. Although this has taken much longer than many had hoped, it is encouraging to see that Boeing appears to be turning the corner on the 737.
Notably, the company’s free cash flow was $238 million, turning positive for the first time since Q4 2023. Boeing is sitting on a massive commercial airline backlog of $535 billion, up 25% from a year ago. Overall, things are moving in the right direction at Boeing, but how does this compare to Airbus?
Airbus Delivery Growth Stagnating, Profitability and Backlog Remain Impressive
Airbus and Boeing don’t report in the exact same way, making comparison somewhat tricky. However, comparing its H1 2025 and Q3 2025 results shows that Airbus delivered 201 planes in Q3. That is up around 16% from the 174 they delivered in Q3 2024, bringing total 2025 deliveries to 507. Boeing’s 38% increase shows it did a solid job narrowing the gap in deliveries. However, Airbus is also implying that it will deliver around 313 aircraft in Q4, holding its 2025 delivery target at 820. That would be nearly double what Boeing delivers if it repeats its Q3 performance of 160 next quarter. Doing so would bring Boeing’s total 2025 deliveries to 600. That would be a significant 72% increase, compared to 348 in 2024. Meanwhile, if Airbus hits its ambitious target, its deliveries would rise only 7% from 766 in 2024.
Airbus’s revenue grew by 14%, and its adjusted operating profit rose by 38% to 1.94 billion euros (approx. $2.26 billion). This compares to the huge $5.05 billion operating loss Boeing took. Even after adjusting for Boeing’s $4.9 billion charge, Airbus remains much more profitable.
Airbus does not provide production numbers each quarter. However, its target is to produce 75 of its flagship A320 family per month by 2027. The company says that it continues to ramp toward this goal. Airbus doesn’t assign a currency value to its backlog, but states that it comprises 7,105 commercial planes. That is down around 2% from last year. In planes, Boeing’s commercial backlog is meaningfully smaller at “over 5,900”.
Boeing vs. Airbus: Complementary Plays in a Concentrated Industry
Overall, Boeing appears to be making significant strides to catch up to Airbus. Still, Airbus continues to have much higher deliveries, backlog, and profitability. Investors can use these stocks to complement each other.
Boeing represents the value play that is working to dig itself out of a hole and is making significant progress. Meanwhile, Airbus’s demonstrated success makes it difficult to bet against, even as shares have soared.
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