One of the biggest question marks right now as far as the Air India disaster is concerned is the contents of the black box, a flight recorder that will offer vital information about what happened during that flight. Now, that gray area is about to get filled in, but aerospace stock Boeing (BA) investors did not find this welcome news at all. In fact, shares of Boeing were down nearly 3% in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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The Boeing 787 in question had two black boxes in it, as well as a set of cockpit voice records and some flight data recorders as well. And teams in Delhi have already begun to download the contents of same in a bid to find out just what happened ahead of that fatal crash. Early reports noted that the 787 Dreamliner in question had already logged 41,700 flight hours over 7,800 trips. It had also had a C check inspection back in 2023, reports noted, along with engine overhauls just months ago.
Right now, the focus is on fuel systems, hydraulic systems, and electrical systems, reports noted, and updates look to hit in the next few weeks. A final report may arrive by the end of the year as well. This is not much of a report as yet, but it does assure its viewers that the process is ongoing and is starting to deliver some results. It is, however, dragging on Boeing’s stock price, particularly in light of Boeing’s other issues of late.
Fitch Pitches In
There was a more positive development that seems to be going largely unnoticed in investors’ rush to sell off shares. Fitch, a global ratings agency, released reports about Boeing’s creditworthiness. Not only did Fitch leave its BBB- rating in place, but it upgraded Boeing from Negative to Stable, and it is pretty much thanks to Kelly Ortberg and the recent changes that have gone in at Boeing.
Fitch cited improvements in Boeing’s “financial flexibility” as well as its production schedules. Fitch also looks for Boeing to pare back its gross debt, bringing the total below $50 billion in 2026. The biggest push there will be repayment of a $7.95 billion set of notes that will mature in 2026. With Boeing getting production back up to par—or at least up to the cap set by the Federal Aviation Administration—the end result should be positive for Boeing.
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, two Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 14.92% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $226.22 per share implies 8.58% upside potential.
