Boeing 2016 outlook disappoints

Chicago: Boeing’s fourth-quarter performance beat analysts’ estimates, but the company’s 2016 outlook came in well below Wall Street’s expectations.

Shares fell more than 6 per cent in Wednesday premarket trading.

For the period ended December 31, Boeing earned $1.03 billion, or $1.51 per share. A year earlier the Chicago company earned $1.47 billion, or $2.02 per share.

Last week Boeing said that its fourth-quarter would include a $569 million charge related to cutting production of its 747-8 cargo plane due to a slowdown in its airfreight business.

Its adjusted profit was $1.60 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.37 per share.

Revenue declined to $23.57 billion from $24.47 billion. This managed to top the expectations of five analysts surveyed by Zacks, who were looking for $23.4 billion in revenue.

Looking ahead, Boeing Co. anticipates its 2016 adjusted profit in a range of $8.15 to $8.35 per share on revenue between $93 billion and $95 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are calling for a profit of $9.41 per share on revenue of $97.26 billion.

Its shares dropped $8.40, or 6.6 per cent, to $119.61 in premarket trading about an hour ahead of the market opening.