Boeing Progressing on 747-8

Boeing Company (BA) successfully completed the first test flight of its long-in-the-making 747-8 Freighter. The 747-8 Freighter is the new, high-capacity 747 that brings the benefits of low operating costs and best economics in any freighter to cargo operators. The 747-8 is powered by four General Electric Company’s (GE) GEnx-2B engines. The airplane is 250 feet, 2 inches (76.3 m) long, which is 18 feet, 4 inches (5.6 m) longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch provides customers with 16% more revenue cargo volume compared to its predecessor. That translates to an additional four main-deck pallets and three lower-hold pallets. 

Boeing launched the airplane on Nov 14, 2005, with firm orders for 18 747-8 Freighters: 10 from Cargolux of Luxembourg and eight from Nippon Cargo Airlines of Japan. Till date, Boeing has secured 108 orders for the 747-8. The customers are a varied mix of airlines like AirBridgeCargo Airlines, Atlas Air, Cathay Pacific, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Emirates SkyCargo, Guggenheim and Korean Air. 


Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial jet liners and military aerospace products (based on total sales). Boeing designs and produces commercial airplanes, defense systems, and civil and defense space systems. It is also the largest NASA contractor. Non-airplane products include helicopters, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, rocket engines, launch vehicles, and advanced information and communication systems.
 
Boeing is one of the best-positioned companies among its defense peers due to its balanced exposure to commercial aircraft and defense equipment. Defense peers like Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) dabble only in defense equipment. 

Going forward we believe Boeing’s $316 billion order backlog, strong order booking, stable cash flow generation and a globally diversified customer base will help maintain the growth momentum. However, a bearish commercial aerospace market, apprehension over growth in defense spending, and delays in the launch of the 787 series jetliner will affect Boeing’s performance in the near term.

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Read the full analyst report on LMT

Read the full analyst report on NOC