Boeing's Delivery Pace Is Finally Accelerating. Here's the Free-Cash-Flow Math Bulls Love.
Key Points
Boeing's airplane deliveries are accelerating, boosting its core business and free cash flow.
Boeing's valuation could become more attractive if delivery and cash flow targets are met.
- 10 stocks we like better than Boeing ›
Boeing's (NYSE: BA) recent results helped confirm the improvement in its single most important operational metric: airplane deliveries from Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA). It's a positive development and helps build the buy case for the stock.
Boeing's deliveries matter
The chart below shows the strength of the relationship between BCA deliveries and the company's free-cash-flow (FCF) generation. This is completely understandable given that the BCA segment is its core business. Moreover, the best way Boeing can grow its profit margins is by ramping up deliveries, as it has a massive fixed cost structure. As more aircraft roll off the production line, the unit cost of each airplane will fall because fixed costs are spread across more aircraft.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now, when you join Stock Advisor. See the stocks »
If the Wall Street consensus from Visible Alpha is a guide, Boeing's delivery ramp will reach $10 billion in 2028. Given that the company's market cap is only $175 billion, it would be trading at a very attractive valuation.
Data source: Company presentation. 2026-2028 estimates from Visible Alpha. Chart by the author.
Boeing is ramping up deliveries
The 737 MAX narrow-body is the key program to monitor, and the good news is Boeing has ramped up its production rate from 38 a month in 2025 to 42 a month at the end of 2025. Furthermore, according to CEO Kelly Ortberg on the recent earnings call, "On 737, we're now ramping to 47 airplanes per month after a successful Capstone review in May and expect factory rollouts to reach 47 per month this summer."
If Boeing continues to ramp up its narrow-body and wide-body deliveries according to its plans, then its FCF growth will support share price appreciation.
Should you buy stock in Boeing right now?
Before you buy stock in Boeing, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Boeing wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $397,081!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,166,221!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 889% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 203% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 30, 2026.
Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Boeing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
