Valued at a market cap of $108.7 billion, The Boeing Company (BA) is one of the largest defense contractors in the U.S. The Arlington, Virginia-based company designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services. 

This aerospace giant’s shares have significantly underperformed the broader market over the past 52 weeks. BA has declined 15.8% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied 21.8%. Moreover, the stock is down marginally on a YTD basis, compared to SPX’s 2.7% rise during the same time frame.

Zooming in further, Boeing has also lagged behind the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLI) nearly 18.6% gain over the past 52 weeks and 4% return on a YTD basis. 

On Jan. 28, BA released its Q4 earnings results. The company delivered a core earnings loss of $5.90 per share, worse than an estimated loss of $3.22. Moreover, the loss significantly widened from the $0.47 per share loss in the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, revenue came in at $15.2 billion, marking a notable 30.9% year-over-year decline and falling 2.6% short of Wall Street estimates. 

The company's performance was significantly impacted by the Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) strike, which disrupted operations in its Commercial Airplanes segment. As a result, aircraft deliveries plunged 64% compared to the prior year. Despite this, shares of Boeing gained 1.5% that day as Wall Street knew the numbers would not look good because of the two-month labor strike, minimizing the negative impact on investor sentiments. 

What boosted confidence was Boeing’s smoother-than-expected production ramp-up. According to its CFO, the company delivered 33 Boeing 737 jets in January and is on track to reach the production cap of 38 per month. The company's leadership also indicated that the cap imposed by U.S. regulators would be removed later in the year and that the company would have the capacity to exceed it.

For the current fiscal year, ending in December 2025, analysts expect BA’s loss to narrow by a whopping 88.7% year over year to $2.30 per share. The company’s earnings surprise history is mixed. It beat the Wall Street estimates in one of the last four quarters while missing on three other occasions. 

Among the 25 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy,” which is based on 15 “Strong Buy,” one “Moderate Buy,” eight “Hold,” and one “Strong Sell” rating. 

This configuration is slightly more bullish than three months ago, with 14 analysts suggesting a “Strong Buy” rating. 

On Jan. 30, JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman maintained an “Overweight” rating on Boeing and raised its price target to $200, which indicates a 13.5% potential upside from the current levels. 

The mean price target of $198 represents a modest 12.3% upside from BA’s current price levels, while the Street-high price target of $250 suggests an upside potential of 41.9%.