Market Minute: Boeing (BA) Earnings Preview

Boeing is up on the docket tomorrow morning with its 3Q earnings. Zacks expects EPS of -$10.34, a staggering 200% worse than last year, with revenue of $17.9 billion. The implied move is currently around $7.50. Boeing hit a 52-week low as recently as Oct. 14, and is down around 40% year-to-date. Its union, currently on strike, will vote on a preliminary agreement tomorrow as well. 

At this point, the odds are so stacked against Boeing that providing any ray of hope could mitigate some punishment. However, its picture stays bleak: despite having a duopoly on passenger planes, its consistent safety issues, and negative news flow like a report from the FAA citing “lack of awareness of safety related metrics at all levels of the organization” may take years to change investors’ perceptions. In that time, an untold number of liabilities could delay the prospects of recovery. Will it regain its reputation, and if so, when? Of course, investors willing to wait that long could see this as a buying opportunity, but facing potentially years of headwinds, will it crash farther first?