Boeing Shares Suffer from Fears of Trade War

The recent announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump regarding his plans to impose heavy tariffs on steel and aluminum imports has been followed by Trump’s most recent announcement of placing tariffs on Chinese imports worth $50 billion. This pushed most global stocks down over the past couple of trading sessions.

While Chinese authorities have stated their plans to appeal their sides to Trump, the markets slumped over the weekend with most global stocks down at the beginning of the week including companies such as Boeing Co whose majority of deliveries are sent outside the country. As early as last Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost more than 700 points shortly after the latest tariff announcement that sparked fears of a trade wars which will affect profits of American companies.

Boeing shares which was down by as much as 9.2% over the month lost around 5% on Thursday. Despite this, Boeing’s stock has seen a positive movement over the past quarter and has been projected to rise due to the overall upbeat delivery and earnings numbers of the company. Boeing also has increased its production and delivery targets this year with a number of new planes due to be released in the next couple of years.

First Boeing 787-10 delivered to Singapore Airlines.

Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner

In the midst of ongoing trade war concerns, Boeing has been ramping up the delivery and production of its jets since the beginning of the year. Following the beginning of a test flight for the single-aisle 737 MAX 7 which is the company’s smallest variant of its re-engined line, it has also caught the attention of the market over the weekend when Qantas airlines inaugurated the first non-stop flight between Britain and Australia a between Perth and London through a Boeing plane. 

During the weekend, the company also delivered the very first wide-body 787-10 to Singapore Airlines through a handover event held in South Carolina at Boeing’s factory in North Charleston. The plane which will be made exclusively at the South Carolina factory due to its large midbody which cannot be made in Boeing’s main wide-body factory in Everett Washington. 

The Dreamliner line is completed by the first delivery of the 787-10 which is eighteen feet longer than the 787-8 and 787-9. It also has a two-class seat capacity for 330 passengers compared to the 787-9 which can only accommodate 290 passengers. However, the 787-10 only has a range of 7,400 statute miles which is 1,500 statue miles less than the 787-9 Dreamliners.

Boeing also has addressed issues over the South Carolina factory being non-unionized with the company stating that it would not affect the division of labor compared to other factories where the one in Everett continues to build other Dreamliners such as the 787-8 and 787-9.

Singapore Airlines which will be acquiring more Boeing jets in the coming months will be placing the said jet in operation starting this May.

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