Boeing (NYSE: BA) has experienced a turbulent journey in 2023, sending investors on a roller coaster ride.
The stock saw a notable surge, reaching nearly $240 in July, but then embarked on a downward trend, erasing a noteworthy portion of its gains. BA is currently sitting at $186.82, up 2.45% in the past 24 hours, but down 0.5% on the month.
This decline is primarily attributed to Boeing’s lackluster earnings performance and substantial setbacks in key business divisions.
In late October, the aerospace giant unveiled its Q3 2023 financial results, revealing an operating loss of $942 million in its defense business, wider than Wall Street’s expectations. Additionally, Boeing announced a reduction in the expected deliveries of its 737 Max aircraft for 2023 due to production issues discovered on some of the best-selling planes’ fuselages.
On a more positive note, Boeing has maintained its 2023 free cash flow projections of $3 billion to $5 billion.
Wall Street’s forecasts for Boeing stock
While the company has faced a series of disappointing quarters in recent years, Wall Street analysts remain largely optimistic about Boeing’s future stock performance, indicating confidence in the company’s ability to stage a comeback.
Particularly, the consensus price target for BA shares for the coming 12 months is $241.88, based on 18 analysts who covered the stock in the last three months, TipRanks data shows.
That price objective is almost 30% higher than Boeing’s share price. Remarkably, the lowest 12-month price target of $200 is also higher than BA’s current price.
Further, BA carries an average stock rating of ‘Moderate Buy,’ based on 18 analysts who rated the stock in the past three months. Out of those, 13 issued a ‘Buy’ rating, while 5 saw it as a ‘Hold.’
Boeing up in premarket as Goldman Sachs names the stock as top pick
Shares of Boeing climbed 0.6% in Wednesday premarket after analysts at Goldman Sachs added the stock to ‘US Conviction List – Director’s Cut’ – its list of flagship stocks that involves the most differentiated fundamental Buy-rated names.
The experts believe that Boeing investors appear to be preoccupied with short-term headwinds rather than focusing on the planemaker’s long-term fundamentals and normalized free cash flow.
That said, the Wall Street giant’s strategists think there is a buying opportunity in “this domestic half of the global aircraft manufacturing duopoly.”
“Air travel and aircraft demand remain strong, driven by growth and upgrade needs, and generating several years of backlog for Boeing. This strong demand has also resulted in substantially higher pricing for BA, which should flow to margins in the future.”
– Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Shares of Boeing were sitting at $188 ahead of the market open.
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