Boeing Company delivered a mixed bag of financial results for Q1 2025. So even as they reported a 9% drop in revenue from their defense unit, they too announced a slew of big contracts and demonstrated improved operational metrics. The aerospace giant continues looking to recover and grow, despite a continued tough environment. It’s leading the way on safety issues and manufacturing challenges to keep momentum and progress going.
Boeing’s defense revenue dropped to $6.3 billion in the first three months. This decline comes amid ongoing challenges in the defense sector but was somewhat offset by a recent contract award from the U.S. government. Former President Donald Trump gave Boeing a fat contract. Plus, they’ll build the clean-sheet design F-47 fighter jet for the U.S. Air Force—surely a huge boon to the company’s bottom line.
For Boeing, admirable news on the cash burn front. It fell to just over $2.3 billion, a decrease from close to $4 billion over that same period last year. This cut was more than double what analysts were expecting and is part of their ongoing efforts to improve operational productivity. The company’s adjusted loss was 49 cents per share. This figure already makes some accounting adjustments for one-time items such as spikes in pension costs and income taxes.
Ortberg, Boeing’s new CEO, took over last year. He is now at the front of the cavalry attempting to steer the manufacturer through a perfect storm of operational disasters. Behind his leadership—which he called “leadership from the front”—Boeing has made notable progress on halting history-production loss rates, including for its popular 737 Max aircraft. Record high production rates point to an optimistic recovery in the commercial aviation market. This is a sector that has been challenged greatly in the past few years.
In his tenure, Ortberg has zeroed in on improving internal operations. He focuses on the safety, efficiency and quality within Boeing’s factories. He stated,
“We are moving in the right direction and making progress as we reported our first-quarter 2025 results today.”
This optimism is crucial as the company continues to recover from recent accidents, including a notable incident in January 2024 where a door plug blew out during a packed flight midair.
Along with these operational improvements, Boeing announced a decision to divest the majority of its digital aviation business. The firm plans to divest of its Jeppesen navigation, as well as several other digital operations. Thoma Bravo is acquiring them for $10.55 billion in an all-cash transaction. This action marks, as Boeing stated, a continued effort touting the need for the company to “operate more efficiently” and “invest in [its] core aerospace businesses.”
As the company adapts to this transition, it continues to navigate critical focus and skepticism from regulators and the flying public about the safety of its planes. The business hit the ground running to rectify these issues, all while sustaining the ramp to full production and financial performance.