Boeing has pushed back the timeline for achieving flat or positive margins at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, moving the target to 2027 as the cost of absorbing Spirit AeroSystems and new 737 MAX rework weighs on the division’s recovery.
CFO Jay Malave said 2026 margins at BCA will remain negative, with first-quarter margins expected at negative 7% to negative 8.5%.
The revised target marks a reset for Boeing’s most important operating segment at a time when investors were watching for clearer evidence that production normalization could translate into margin repair. Malave said Boeing only uncovered part of Spirit’s performance issues after the acquisition closed.
“You don’t get access to all the information until you actually close,” he said. “And so there was cost.”
He described the impact as a short-term headwind, but the immediate effect is a one-year delay to a key recovery milestone.
The margin pressure arrives on top of known recent losses at the commercial aircraft business. Reuters reported that the division lost $632.0 million in 2025 after a $2.1 billion loss in 2024.
Boeing shares reversed earlier gains after Malave’s comments and were down over 3%.
In addition, Malave also said Boeing is fixing about 25 undelivered 737 MAX aircraft after discovering wiring issues that the company flagged last week. As a result, roughly 10 aircraft deliveries are now expected to slip into the second quarter.
Reuters reported Boeing is producing the jet at about 42 aircraft per month, plans to raise that rate to 47 by year-end, and is targeting about 500 deliveries in 2026. A delay of around 10 units does not necessarily break the annual plan, but it does pressure first-quarter mix, timing, and margin absorption in a period when Boeing is already expected to post a negative margin.
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