Boeing's defense business is booming at a time when airplanes are disappointing

By Tomi Kilgore

Boeing's stock rallies as revenue rises above expectations, while another big beat in defense and space offset a miss in commercial airplanes

Boeing's stock jumped Wednesday, as a partnership with the Trump administration on PAC-3 interceptor missiles provided a boost to the company's defense business, which saw revenue rise well above expectations.

Shares of Boeing got a lift Wednesday after the aerospace and defense giant's first-quarter results showed continued strong growth in its defense and space business, enough to overshadow its larger commercial airplanes segment.

The strength in Boeing's second-largest business segment comes at a time of growing demand for the company's interceptor missiles - from the U.S. military as well as foreign governments - due to the Iran conflict as well as to ongoing hostilities in Ukraine. The success of NASA's Artemis II launch earlier this month also raised the profile of the business, as Boeing built the Space Launch System stage rocket for the mission.

Read: Space investing is heating up as SpaceX rockets toward a record-breaking IPO

Boeing's stock (BA) rose 5.35 on Wednesday, snapping a three-quarter streak of post-earnings declines.

Total revenue for the first quarter grew 14% from a year ago to $22.22 billion, which was above the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet of $21.3 billion.

Breaking the results down, defense, space and security revenue jumped 20.7% to $7.6 billion to beat the FactSet consensus of $6.5 billion, while commercial airplanes revenue increased 13% to $9.2 billion but missed expectations of $9.76 billion.

Commercial airplanes are not doing badly - that backlog of orders includes 6,100 jets valued at a record $576 billion - but there is concern about the outlook for future demand, as airlines have been cutting flights amid surging fuel costs.

Boeing's defense business - which got a boost from a deal with the Trump administration for more PAC-3 missiles and a deal to offer MQ-28 Ghost Bat aerial vehicles to Germany - saw backlog orders rise to a record $86 billion. Boeing said 27% of the orders came from customers outside the United States.

Meanwhile, the company reported a core loss per share that narrowed to 20 cents from 49 cents and beat the FactSet per-share loss consensus of 61 cents.

Boeing's stock has gained 2.4% in 2026, while the S&P 500 index SPX has tacked on 4%.

-Tomi Kilgore

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-22-26 1724ET