Aerospace stock Boeing (BA) is in a funny position right now. As it turns out, its defense operations are helping fuel the company’s upward growth, but all those gains are potentially at risk thanks to the ongoing strike at the St. Louis-area plants. A look at this odd dichotomy left investors concerned but hopeful, as shares ticked up nearly 1.5% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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A report recently released detailed that, while Boeing has had plenty of challenges in the commercial aircraft sector lately—particularly with the 737 Max line—its defense operations are delivering, and big. In fact, the Defense, Space and Security (BDS) sector accounted for $6.6 billion in revenues by itself. That represents about a third of total sales for the period, reports noted.
Moreover, there is clear—and brisk—demand for Boeing defense hardware. This is evidenced by Boeing’s backlog, which stands at $74 billion today. This is up from both the previous quarter, where it stood at $61.6 billion, and from the end of 2024, which came in at $64 billion. Thus, products from Boeing’s defense operations, be they military aircraft or space-related products, are popular sellers and give Boeing an edge.
Perfect Timing
But all this may be threatened going forward, especially if the St. Louis strikes keep going for much longer. New reports note that Boeing is ready to get back to the strikers with the Labor Day holiday’s conclusion.
The strike is in its fifth week, reports note, and though the negotiations are set to return, no actual date has been set yet for talks to restart. And reports further note that the strikers are now officially without health insurance, as their last date for that was August 31. This may be the opening Boeing needs to force its own terms on the strikers, or it may be the start of a longer process as strikers try to get back more than they lost.
Is Boeing a Good Stock to Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 17 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 45.75% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $262.25 per share implies 10.23% upside potential.
