Boeing Earnings: Cash Stays Positive, Airliner Loss Doubles From Spring

By Stock Titan Editorial Team Published October 27, 2026, 08:11 AM EDT

Why is Boeing generating cash while losing money?

Advance payments are a normal part of how airliners and military aircraft are sold. Boeing's third quarter results release books them as advances and progress billings, meaning payments received before a plane or a contract stage is finished. The figure we use is the change in that balance, so it nets new payments against advances used up as jets were handed over.

On the other side, Boeing put $2.87 billion into planes, parts and work not yet delivered. That lifted the value of its inventories to $90.9 billion, the highest under the accounting it adopted in 2018 and applied back to 2017.

That is money tied up until delivery, which Boeing gets back only as it hands jets over. About $27.5 billion of it, by our count, was 737 and 787 production costs to be recovered from future deliveries. That figure is from Boeing's second quarter 10-Q, the quarterly report it files with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Show the data

Category	Value
2017	$61.4B
2018	$62.6B
2019	$76.6B
2020	$81.7B
2021	$78.8B
2022	$78.2B
2023	$79.7B
2024	$87.6B
Mar 2025	$89.1B
2025	$84.7B
Sep 2026	$90.9B

Operating cash, the money the business brought in after those swings and its other bills, came out positive. That was after settlement payments of about $0.7 billion to the U.S. Department of Justice, which the release names. The 10-Q describes Boeing's 2025 agreement with the department over the two 737 MAX crashes, which set a fine and compensation for victims' families.

Plant spending took $1.03 billion, mostly for higher investment at Charleston and St. Louis.

That left $464 million, down from $631 million in the spring. It still beat the "low-hundreds of millions of dollars" that finance chief Jay Malave told analysts to expect in July, according to Boeing's second quarter call transcript.

Show the data

Step	Value
Advances	$3,453M
Inventories	-$2,874M
Other items	+$917M
Plant spending	-$1,032M
Free cash	$464M

For the year, cash is still in the red. Free cash flow for the first nine months was minus $359 million. Malave said in July that Boeing was on track for $1 billion to $3 billion in 2026.

Landing in that range would take $1.36 billion to $3.36 billion in the fourth quarter, by our count. Today's release does not repeat the range.

Over the past four quarters, free cash flow now adds up to a positive $16 million, by our count. That is small. Still, it is the first positive twelve-month total since the twelve months to March 2024.

Why did Boeing's airliner loss double?

Commercial Airplanes lost $697 million, against $322 million in the second quarter. A year earlier it lost far more, because of a charge, a cost booked at once for expected losses, on the delayed 777X jet.

The release cites "less favorable delivery mix, higher projected costs associated with future production rate adjustments and higher estimated supply chain costs." Mix means which models went out: only five 777s, against seven in the spring and nine a year earlier.

Airliner revenue fell 3% from a year earlier, to $10.72 billion, which Boeing also puts down mainly to that mix.

In our reading, the 737 pace is the backdrop to those costs. The program "continues to progress toward stabilized production of 47 per month," the release says. In September, chief executive Kelly Ortberg said Boeing was "not stable yet at 47 a month," and described a plan to build more wings, according to Boeing's account of his remarks.

The 787 Dreamliner line, by contrast, "remains stable at a production rate of 8 per month."

When will airlines get Boeing's 737-7 and 737-10?

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. air-safety regulator, certified the 737-7 in early August, as Boeing announced. It certified the 737-10 on October 20.

In its 737-10 announcement, Boeing said deliveries begin "in the coming months." The jet seats up to 230 people and has 1,555 orders, Boeing says.

Southwest Airlines, the first customer for the 737-7, expects its first delivery in late 2026 and its first passenger service in 2027, according to its third quarter 10-Q. In the third quarter it switched 42 of its 2026 deliveries to the 737-8.

New jets often replace old ones. In the third quarter Southwest took 20 new 737-8s from Boeing and retired or sold 20 older planes, its filing shows.

The wider shortage is what travelers feel. The airline group IATA says airlines are short of more than 5,000 replacement aircraft they had counted on, in its June supply chain release. It adds that the average fleet age has hit a record 15.2 years, and that the gap means missed fuel savings, higher lease rates and more maintenance.

Since July 20, Boeing again signs its own airworthiness certificates, the final sign-off that each new 737 MAX or 787 is fit to fly. That follows an FAA decision of July 17. The larger long-haul 777-9 remains on track for first delivery in 2027, the release says.

How many planes did Boeing deliver in Q3 2026?

The 737, Boeing's single-aisle workhorse, made up 124 of them, and 22 were 787 Dreamliners. The count matches the preliminary figure in Boeing's October 13 deliveries release.

Over nine months the picture is better: deliveries rose 8%, and airliner revenue rose 5%.

The year's 737 goal sets a high bar. In July, Malave said Boeing was on track to deliver 500 737s in 2026. By our count that leaves 133 for the fourth quarter, more than any quarter of 2025 or 2026 so far.

Show the data

Category	Value
Q3 2024	116
Q4 2024	57
Q1 2025	130
Q2 2025	150
Q3 2025	160
Q4 2025	160
Q1 2026	143
Q2 2026	171
Q3 2026	161

Is Boeing profitable?

Global Services, which maintains and supports planes, earned $1.02 billion. Defense earned $492 million.

But $252 million of the defense figure was a gain on selling HRL Laboratories, a research lab. Without it, defense earned about 3.0% of its revenue, by our calculation.

Items Boeing does not assign to a business, which it labels unallocated items, eliminations and other, took $610 million. Interest on its debt took another $573 million.

The U.S. Navy picked Boeing in September to design and build the F/A-XX, its next carrier fighter, as Boeing announced. The release says that order is not yet in its backlog, the value of work under contract. Total backlog still grew to a record $745 billion.

Does Boeing pay a dividend?

Those are mandatory convertible preferred shares, which turn into common shares on a set date. Boeing paid $259 million on them in nine months, its cash statement shows.

The quarterly weighted-average share count, the average used for per-share results, rose about 4% from a year earlier, to 792.7 million. Boeing also issued $1.28 billion of its own stock for employees' 401(k) retirement accounts over nine months.

How much debt does Boeing have?

Debt has fallen $8.2 billion since the end of 2025. Boeing also held $20.7 billion of cash and short-term investments.

None of its $10.0 billion of bank credit lines was in use. In our reading, that cash and the unused credit give Boeing room while its factories steady their pace. For now, customers paying ahead carry its cash, and the airliner business still has to earn money on the jets it hands over.

Frequently asked questions

The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice, investment recommendation, or an endorsement of any particular investment strategy. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.

See more from StockTitan in Google Search and AI answers. Adds StockTitan as a preferred source · opens Google

Add on Google Not now