Boeing (BA 0.23%) stock is up around 14% so far this year, and analysts have been raising their price targets after the company reported a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss in late April.Â
While it’s been a bumpy flight for Boeing investors in recent years, there are clear signs that the embattled aerospace titan is making real progress on its turnaround plan.Â
Here are three reasons you should consider starting a position in Boeing — or adding to your position — right now.
1. Operational momentum
During the company’s first-quarter earnings call on April 23, CEO Kelly Ortberg said that Boeing’s “recovery plan is in full swing.”
Boeing’s first-quarter results provided plenty of fuel for Ortberg’s optimism.
Boeing reported a net loss of $31 million, a drastic improvement over the $355 million loss in Q1 2024 (and a drop in the bucket compared to its $11.8 billion full-year loss from 2024). Boeing also delivered a rare earnings beat, with a core loss of $0.49 per share that topped analysts’ estimates by $0.81.
First-quarter revenue was up 18% to $19.5 billion. The big story behind the top-line growth was Boeing’s continued progress on stabilizing its key commercial programs. Boeing delivered 130 commercial jets during the quarter — compared to 83 in the year-ago quarter — lifting commercial aircraft sales 75% higher.
Notably, the company continued to ramp up production of the 737 MAX, the latest iteration of Boeing’s best-selling jet.
Ortberg emphasized that Boeing is making strides in its quality control, which has been at the heart of the company’s manufacturing woes. On the all-important 737 MAX production line, Boeing has seen a roughly 50% reduction in “traveled work” — work not done where originally planned — and a 25% reduction in rework hours, according to Ortberg.
In layman’s terms, that means more work is getting done the right way — the first time.
“Even more importantly, almost every customer I talk with reports an improvement to the quality of the airplane,” Ortberg said during the Q1 conference all.
2. Quatar Airways order
Just a few weeks after the Q1 positive earnings surprise, Boeing and Quatar Airways announced that the airline will buy up to 210 Boeing widebody jets in a deal that the White House valued at $96 billion.
Image source: Getty Images.
The size and scope of the deal are significant. Not only is it a vote of confidence from one of the world’s most respected airlines, but it also underscores the robust global demand for Boeing’s widebody jets — particularly the fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner.
For investors, the record-breaking agreement signals that Boeing’s commercial business — which has been at the center of Boeing’s struggles and recovery efforts — is finally regaining altitude.
However, the deal comes with an asterisk. As part of the agreement, Qatar Airways reportedly cancelled a 2022 order for 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10 jets. Given the fact that the FAA has yet to certify the MAX 10 variant for delivery, the cancellation isn’t a big surprise. Still, it highlights the urgent need for Boeing to resolve its 737 MAX production issues and certification delays before it loses out on any additional orders.
3. Legal cloud may be lifting
The legal fallout from the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2019 has cast a long shadow over Boeing’s operations and stock performance.
Boeing agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the Department of Justice in 2021. As part of the three-year “deferred prosecution agreement,” Boeing admitted that two employees misled regulators about a key flight-control system, contributing to the crashes that killed 346 people.
But things got more complicated after a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX in January 2024 — just days before the DOJ settlement was set to expire. That prompted the DOJ to conclude that Boeing had violated the terms of the earlier deal. Prosecutors reopened the case, and it looked like Boeing might face criminal prosecution and potentially even a felony conviction.
But a resolution appears to be on the horizon.
On Friday, news outlets reported that the Justice Department had reached a preliminary agreement with Boeing, enabling the company to avoid prosecution for the fatal 737 MAX crashes.
While the deal will cost Boeing more than $1.1 billion — including a $444.5 million contribution to a crash victims’ fund and a $445 million investment in compliance, safety, and quality programs — the jet maker will avoid being classified as a felon, according to CNBC.
The implications for investors are enormous. A felony conviction could have jeopardized Boeing’s ability to win government contracts from the Department of Defense, NASA, and other agencies (a business segment that generated $6.3 billion for the company in Q1 2025). The nonprosecution settlement eliminates that risk, and it takes a criminal trial — which was scheduled for next month — off the table.
If finalized, the DOJ deal should go a long way toward restoring investor confidence and removing a cloud that’s been hovering over Boeing for years.
Is Boeing cleared for takeoff?
Boeing isn’t out of the woods just yet, though. Lingering quality control concerns, ongoing regulatory scrutiny, and President Donald Trump’s on-again/off-again tariffs could make for a turbulent flight path, at least in the short term.
Still, with an improving balance sheet, steadying production, and a $545 billion order book, Boeing looks better-positioned today than it has been in years. Even as the stock price has run up a bit lately, there’s plenty of runway ahead for this aerospace giant.
