They'll want to know how close engineers are to completing a fix to flight-control software at the centre of investigations into two deadly crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect Boeing to report adjusted earnings of $3.19 per share on revenue of $22.94 billion. Both of those figures have come down considerably in the past month. When the market closed Tuesday, Boeing Co. shares stood 4% higher than before the October crash of a 737 Max operated by Indonesia's Lion Air. After a slump, they skyrocketed from late December until early March when another 737 Max crashed, this one operated by Ethiopian Airlines.
Investors believe the market for jetliners will remain strong for many years and airlines don't have much choice for big planes -- Boeing and Airbus form a duopoly, and both have huge order backlogs. Jim Corridore, an airline analyst for CFRA Research, said that while Boeing still has much work to do, the FAA panel's determination "shows that the return of the plane to flying is now a 'when' question rather than 'if' ... we remain firm in our view that Boeing will survive this with its order book largely intact."