It is easy to forget, sometimes, that aerospace stock Boeing (BA) has as much to do with aircraft design as it does with production. And that makes news about a new co-project with NASA all the more impressive. Boeing and NASA are working together on new wing designs, and investors are abundantly happy to hear about it. They sent Boeing shares up nearly 3.5% in Friday afternoon’s trading.
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Basically, Boeing and NASA are working on a project that will see new aircraft boast longer, thinner wings. This combination, reports suggest, could produce not only a smoother ride for passengers, but maybe even lower ticket prices. Planes with such wings would use less fuel, reports note, so if a plane uses less fuel, that means less cost to run it. Reduce cost and you can reduce fare prices without harm to the bottom line.
The project is known as the Integrated Adaptive Wing Technology Maturation program, and some prototypes have apparently already completed wind tunnel tests. But such testing comes with some dangers; long, thin wings can experience a condition known as “wing flutter,” reports note. Wing flutter can lead to catastrophic wing failure, and “the wing fell off” is not a thing you want to hear on a flight.
Real Estate Deal
Meanwhile, Boeing managed to pull in some more free cash thanks to a real estate deal in Chicago. Boeing’s former headquarters, inside a 36-story building on the Chicago River, is now sold, and Boeing landed $22 million for the property, reports noted.
The Stahl Organization and Hines reportedly bought in, based on reports, property records, and unnamed people who were “familiar with the deal.” For those who think $22 million for 36 stories in downtown Chicago sounds like a lowball deal, you are not wrong; it turns out that the building is a leasehold interest, and the actual ground on which the building sits is owned separately. But since Stahl already owned the land, picking up the building made quite a bit of sense.
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 13 Buys, two Holds and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 17.43% rally in its share price over the past year, the average BA price target of $249.92 per share implies 16.01% upside potential.
