Aerospace stock Boeing (BA) is set to close out the year on a very strong note as it landed a hefty new contract to supply Israel with F-15s. The contract was valued at $8.6 billion, and came out following a meeting between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The news was abundantly welcome to investors, meanwhile, who sent Boeing shares up nearly 1.5% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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The contract is designed to support what is known as the F-15 Israel Program, reports note, and includes “…the design, integration, instrumentation, test, production and delivery of 25 new F-15IA aircraft…” for the Israeli Air Force. The agreement also offers an option for another 25 to be added later. The work will be done at the St. Louis plant, reports note, and is expected to be finished before 2036.
Naturally, this move was met with some controversy. Reports suggest that both anti-war protesters and Palestine supporters are opposed to the move and those like it. But despite their calls for an end to military support for Israel, the Trump administration will not be turning back. Interestingly, neither did the Biden administration. The United States remains, to this day, the largest supplier of arms to Israel by a reportedly wide margin.
The Wedgetail Lives On
We have heard about the E-7 Wedgetail, another Boeing product that has met with controversy, but this time, exclusively between Congress and the United States military. Reports note that the Wedgetail is not only above cost, but also behind schedule, and with no clear end in sight. In fact, Congress has stepped in to keep the E-7 Wedgetail alive, despite the Pentagon itself wanting it gone.
The Wedgetail is a radar plane that can scan for threats up to several hundred miles away, which could be valuable in any military application. But given that the Wedgetail’s costs went from $588 million per aircraft to $724 million per aircraft, it is little surprise that the Pentagon wanted the project shut down. Congress intervened, and passed a $901 billion defense budget…that included protection for the Wedgetail.
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 14 Buys, two Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 22.74% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $251.71 per share implies 14.47% upside potential.
