European aerospace giant Airbus also reinstated its dividend.
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Airbus has the upper hand on Boeing , long the leader in the aviation industry, as the U.S. jet maker works its way through a series of self-inflicted problems. The recent fourth-quarter results from the companies highlight the broad gap in performance between the two.
Thursday, Airbus (ticker: AIR.France) reported earnings per share of 1.38 euros ($1.57) and an operating profit of 1.5 billion euros from sales of 17 billion euros. Analysts were projecting 1.27 euros in EPS, 1.3 billion euros in operating profit, and 16.9 billion euros of sales.
The results were clearly better than expected. What is more, Airbus is reinstating its dividend, which it suspended in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Airbus shareholders will receive a 1.50 euro dividend for 2021.
“2021 was a year of transition, where our attention shifted from navigating the pandemic toward recovery and growth,” said CEO Guillaume Faury in the company’s news release. “The strong financials reflect the higher number of commercial aircraft deliveries, the good performance of our Helicopters and Defence and Space businesses as well as our efforts on cost containment and competitiveness.”
Airbus delivered 611 commercial aircraft in 2021, up from 566 in 2020. The company took in 771 gross orders. Net orders were 507 because customers canceled purchases of 264 aircraft. Net income for the full year was a record at 4.2 billion euros
Compare that to Boeing’s year. Boeing (BA) delivered 340 commercial aircraft compared with 157 delivered in 2020. It lost $4.2 billion in 2021 after losing $11.9 billion in 2020, though it did top Airbus in net commercial aircraft orders, bringing 535 jets into its backlog.
All the numbers aren’t really a surprise. Boeing has been dealing with the pandemic, just like Airbus, but it also has had problems with the 737 MAX and 787 jets. The MAX was grounded worldwide from March 2019 to November 2020 after two deadly crashes inside of five months. Boeing still has hundreds of MAX jets in its inventory that it has to deliver to customers.
And Boeing 787 planes aren’t being delivered right now because the company has discovered problems with manufacturing quality.
All of that is already reflected in Boeing’s stock price. Boeing shares are down about 51% from their record high. Airbus stock is only down about 16% from its highest point.
Airbus shares trade for about 22 times its peak earnings. Boeing shares trade for about 14 times its best-ever per-share profit. Airbus’s best was recorded in 2021, while Boeing’s highest numbers came in 2018, before the MAX problems.
Back then, Boeing and Airbus both traded for about 22 times next year’s earnings. Boeing stock was worth more than $220 billion. Airbus stock was worth $80 billion. That $140 billion gap has shrunk to about $35 billion.
That is the hope for Boeing investors looking into the future. If Boeing can start performing like Airbus after it puts its 737 and 787 issues behind them, earnings can improve. That might help the stock to close some of the gap Airbus has opened up.
Airbus stock didn’t really react to news of the record earnings. Good news is already reflected in the shares. The stock was down 0.2% in overseas trading, while Boeing stock slipped 0.4% in early trading.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were both down about 1%.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
