Boeing Q1 Defense Deliveries Up on High AH-64 Apache Demand

The Boeing Company BA recently announced the program deliveries across its defense operations for the first quarter of 2019. The figure shows a solid 140% surge in military shipments compared with the deliveries made in the first quarter of 2018.

Q1 Defense Military Orders & Deliveries

From the context of its defense and space business, Boeing’s deliveries totaled 60 in first-quarter 2019, which significantly increased from 25 dispatched in the year-ago period. Total deliveries consisted of 28 new and remanufactured AH-64 Apache helicopters, 11 CH-47 Chinook helicopters (new and renewed), 3 P-8’s, 7 F/A-18’s, 7 KC-46 Tankers and 4 F-15 military aircraft.

Analyzing the Deliveries

The first quarter of 2019 was productive in terms of defense deliveries, as Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security (BDS) segment continues to receive a smooth flow of contracts from Pentagon. The segment has also made considerable progress in a number of critical program milestones in recent times.

Notably, during the fourth-quarter earnings call, the aerospace giant announced that it has delivered the first two KC 46 tankers to the U.S. Air Force in January 2019. The company also expects to deliver two more tankers soon after this, and the latest delivery figures confirm that.

Price Performance

Shares of Boeing have increased 16.3% in the past 12 months against the industry’s decline of 1.8%.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks   

Boeing currently carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the same sector are Spirit Aerosystems Holdings SPR, AeroVironment, Inc. AVAV and Heico Corporation HEI.

While Spirit Aerosystems sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), AeroVironment and Heico carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Spirit Aerosystems’ long-term growth estimates currently stand at 7.8%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has risen 3.7% to $7.56 in the past 90 days.

AeroVironment’ long-term growth estimates currently stand at 25%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has risen 16.67% to $1.75 in the past 90 days.

Heico Corporation came up with average positive earnings surprise of 4.8% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 earnings has increased 2.9% to $2.14 in the past 90 days.

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